Flame of Life
by Krimson Kane
Summary: When nineteen year old Matt finds himself in the Pokemon universe after stepping into the Denominational Transferring Device, he realizes that it isn't all fun and games. Having both beast forms as well as anthropomorphic counter parts, Pokemon themselves aren't as cute and cuddly as the games lead him to believe. Matt ventures to find a way home with the odds stacked against him.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

"Isn't Pokemon just cock fighting for kids?"

Matthew glanced up from his gameboy to see Rachel looking at him with a condescending look.

"I really don't think of it that way." he told her as his Pokemon character was riding his bike in circles. "It's more like a game for highly sophisticated gamers. You have to solve puzzles, decide what to do with hostile Pokemon, and a bunch of other stuff that most gamers can't handle."

Rachel held back laughter with a snort slipping out. She couldn't help but to laugh hysterically at him, holding her sides as if they were about to burst. Matthew glared at her as tears of laughter rolled down her face. He put his gameboy in his pocket as he sat on the couch, which at the time, they both were sitting on. To be even more specific, they were sitting side by side.

"What's so damn funny?" he demanded. She crossed her legs as she started to calm down.

"Sophisticated gamers?" she giggled with sadistic glee. "I hate to pop your bubble, but the last time I checked you're probably the _stupidest_ person I know. If you're _so_ smart you would already know not waste your time playing stupid games and learn how to help pay for the rent."

"I pay the rent too, dammit!" Matthew yelled upset, springing up from the couch in anger.

"Yeah," Rachel laughed. "when you feel like it."

Matthew could feel his blood boiling inside his veins.

Matthew and Rachel had been friends ever since they were kids. They played together, went to school together, and occasionally acted civil with one another. People couldn't ever tell what their status was, considering they were always arguing. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were rivals.

Both being now nineteen, they lived together as roommates, both paying rent with Rachel typically paying the larger bills. Since her father owned one of the largest window making companies in the northwest, she was handed a stable and well paying job.

The story of Matthew on the other hand was much different. Recently fired from a fast food establishment after pissing the boss off by calling him a whiny bitch, he'd been looking for work desperately. Needless to say, he had little luck.

Comparing the two, Matthew and Rachel were complete opposites. Matthew was an avid gamer who found joy in playing Pokemon games while Rachel was in front of a mirror admiring her completion. Matthew was into RPGs and Rachel found herself glued to the television set watching the latest teen drama. To put it shortly, she didn't know what a Master Ball was and he'd rather die than to sit through Twilight. You get the picture.

Still enjoying the fact that Matthew was upset, Rachel grinned with an evil pleasure that she found was almost better than sex itself. The two of them were locked in a staring contest, with Rachel still showing flawless, white teeth as she smiled. Matthew clenched his sweat ridden fists.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch to me all the time!" he finally burst. Rachel's grin notably grew twice in size.

"Because you're an idiot and I take pride in being better, smarter, and definitely more attractive than you are." she told him with her tight jeans hugging her legs and her even tighter shirt giving the illusion that her breast size was larger than it really really was.

"At least I'm not some spoiled brat who's daddy gives everything to**!**" He came back. His insult didn't even seem to faze her. Instead of getting upset she casually leaned her head to one side with her ponytail moving along as well.

"At least I _have_ a dad." she came back.

Just as soon as the words slipped through her lips had she wanted to shove them back in. Matthew's mouth hung open as if he had been slapped across the face and kicked in the nuts. He straightened his back and clenched his fists even tighter, trying to hide the fact that he was hurt. Without saying a word he went for the front door.

"Matt, I-" Rachel didn't have time to finish her apology. He had already slammed the door behind him. Without a jacket or a phone he was out on the street walking. Rachel swore to herself, wondering why she had to be dumb enough to say what she did.

Matthew had graduated with a D average with no father and no mother. While still in high school he constantly struggled completing his assignments and was living on the couch of his rather intelligent friend Otto. Actually, intelligent doesn't do him justice. Having an IQ of 156, graduated from MIT when he was only fifteen, and a millionaire do to creating software for the government, he was more than just intelligent. He was a certified genius.

During his early years however, Otto was picked on a lot. The kids on the playground would make fun of his thick glasses and the fact that he wore clothes that were falling. Those kids however found themselves battered and blooded by Matthew and soon learned to leave Otto alone. Even though Matthew was no scholar, he was certainly gifted in what he called 'five fingered diplomacy.'

Considering their friendship, Matthew was given a key to Otto's home and was told that he was welcome to come over whenever he liked. The two of them would get to together often to play games and occasionally have Matthew be a guinea pig for some experiment of his. Not only was Otto skilled in software design, but almost any other scientific field out there. If it could be done, Otto could most certainly do it better.

Rain was starting to come down lightly as Matthew walked down the street in the direction of Otto's place. All he had on him was his gameboy and his keys, both being in separate pockets after a very hard (and expensive) lesson he learned when putting both in the same pocket. After having the game screen being scratched to hell from his keys, he had to by himself a new one. Considering the rarity of finding a gameboy color anymore due to the latest gaming systems, it was a pretty big price to pay.

Never had Matthew been so hurt and offended by Rachel before. There was the time that she shoved dog crap in his face, a time she lit his pants on fire as a joke, a time she sneaked a porno magazine in his backpack and told the health teacher he was planning on masturbating while they watched the video on childbirth, and even a time where she hit him in the head with a wooden plank in shop class and sent him to the hospital. Normally, Matthew would beat up anyone who did that to him, but considering she was a girl and his 'friend,' he allowed it. Along with not being the brightest person he was also too forgiving it seemed.

A tear was wiped from his eye as he wondered why on earth she was so mean to him. It was like she simply lived to make his life hell and to make him feel pain on a daily basis. All he wanted to do was distract himself from her bullying and dull the pain by playing a game, but this time was harder to let go than the rest. She knew how painful it was to bring up the subject of his parents.

He crossed the street, entering the one of the richer neighborhoods with the three story homes and the perfectly managed lawns. Rain continued to fall with Matthew ruing the day he was born.

"Why couldn't my mother just gotten an abortion." he mumbled to himself as he passed a random stranger. It was probably wise to keep thoughts like that inside his head instead of speaking them openly like he had just done. The stranger gave him a funny look, but Matthew couldn't care less.

It didn't take him very long to get to Otto's place. His home was the mocha colored one with the lawn sign that read: _BEWARE OF GRIMLINS_. It always put a smile on Matthews face when he read it, but not today. Maybe he would feel better to see what Otto was up to. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to get killed by some crazy experiment of his.

He unlocked the door and entered without any hesitation.

The place was a bit of a mess as usual. There were files in folders scattered all over the living room, documents in a pile on the coffee table with an empty bowl of cereal next to it, and a report entitled "Hypothesis on Genetic Mutation of Ferns" on the arm of the couch. Otto was nowhere to be seen.

"Otto? You here?"

No response.

_He's probably upstairs on his computer._ He thought to himself, heading up the stairs with his hand sliding up the wooden railing with his keys still in hand. Humming a song to himself, Matthew walked the second floor of Otto's home and entered his computer room.

Inside was usually bare with only Otto's incredible god-like computer on a desk inside. Upon entering however, Matthew found that the room had been filled a large machine in the corner with large cords connecting from it to the computer.

The machine itself was about twelve feet tall tube thing with what looked like computer towers next to it along with a ginormous power generator. Whatever it was it had Otto's name written all over it. Matthew approached it, tossing his keys on the computer desk as he passed it.

He curiously examined the metal contraption with confusion, wondering what the hell it was. Placing his ear on the machine, Matthew listened to hear if there was anything working inside it. The metal was cold as he pressed his ear against it.

He heard music. Music coming from his pocket to be exact.

Matthew pulled out his gameboy to find that it had turned on somehow with the title screen playing the cinematic like it always did when it was turned on. He flicked it off, setting it down on part of the machine that was sticking out. Without knowing what he had done, he set it on the scanner tray of the mysterious contraption.

Before he had time to notice what had happened, the scanner tray retracted into the machine with his gameboy with it. He quickly tried to move his hand into the slot that it had entered, but cursed when the scanner opening closed. With his fists now pounding on the machine he started cussing like a sailor.

"I'm not gonna pay another sixty bucks I don't have on _another_ gameboy, dammit!" he yelled angrily. "Piece of shit, OPEN UP!"

As if responding to his voice, the side of the machine opened. He paused and stopped pounding on the machine for a moment. With his eyes moving from inside the machine and from where the scanner had sucked his gameboy in, he was left speechless and puzzled. With his curious side getting the better of him, he entered the machine. Perhaps he could find a release button from inside to get his game back.

The interior was nothing like he'd ever seen before. There were strange panels inside with an uncountable amount of buttons and nobs with weird markings that labeled them. With most of the buttons being black or white, there was one that stood out from the rest of them.

It was a large red button. To Matthew, it reminded him of something he'd seen in a movie, the kind of thing where the president hits it and nukes shoot out from silos. Matthew couldn't stop staring at it. Two voices could be heard inside his head. One told him not to even think about touching the red button; there was no telling what it would do once he did. The other voice on the other hand was much louder and appealing.

"Touch the button!" the voice told him. Not even thinking of the consequences, he hit the button.

And he waited. Nothing was happening.

Before he could react in his disappointed state of mind, a third voice spoke, but it wasn't coming from inside of his head. It came from the machine.

"Starting initiative A-19." the machine spoke. The door of the machine closed with a blue light inside turning on inside. Matthew touched the door and started pounding on it in a panic with a noise growing from overhead and beneath his feet. It sounded like something electrical charging up. Panic began to set in as Matthew realized he was trapped within the machine. There was no stopping whatever it was that was about to happen. He closed his eyes as a bright light flashed.

Nothing could save him from the fate he had stumbled upon.


	2. Chapter 2 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 2**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Sitting in a leather chair is a young man of the age of nineteen, or perhaps even twenty, reading a fairly large book. Like usual, he was in his office as he typically was during the day, whether he be writing or simply catching up on reading. In the corner of the room was his writing desk with a small stack of professional note books along with a few pens resting atop of them. He was fairly mature for his age, acting much older than he was.

The sound of the office door opening made him raise his eyes from his tome. A young woman in a dark blouse and matching short skirt entered with letters in her hand, approaching him with a smile on her furry face. Being an anthropomorphic Raichu with a fair bust, wide hips, and a notable rear, she was definitely a paradise for the eyes. Even so, the young man in the chair kept eye contact as she handed him the letters.

"Here you go Mr. Krimson." she told him chipper. The young man set the book in his lap, taking the small stack of letters from her with a faint smile.

"Thank you Clara." he told her. "You don't have to keep calling me that, you know."

She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything; she couldn't say anything. Whenever she got confused she tended to go speechless. Amused, the young man in the chair gave a soft laugh.

"Just call me Kane." he told her. At first, Clara wasn't sure if it were proper to refer to him so casually. He _was_ her trainer after all. The longer Kane chuckled the more the idea of simply calling him by his first name didn't seem as intimidating.

"Okay, Kane." she told him with a squinted smile. By the tone of her voice, she sounded like she were already in a good mood. To be honest, Kane had to admit that he had not once seen her in any other mood. She was either happy or at least fairly light hearted. Without wasting any time he began opening up the first letter.

Clara looked around his office as he read the letters as if waiting for him to say something afterward. Her eyes scanned over the large bookcase the covered the entire wall on the opposite side of the room from where Kane was sitting in the chair. It was filled with books, with a section of which being his own writing. As young as he was, Kane had filled a plethora of volumes. Even with such an accomplishment, he never really liked to talk about how much he had written or his success. Kane was never liked to boast, or at least not often.

"Not much mail today." Kane commented as he stood up with the letters in one hand and the book he had been reading in the other. He set the letters on his desk and then proceeded to put the book away in it's designated spot in the bookshelf. Clara watched him with her hands by her sides.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked him with a slight tone of worry in her voice. Kane turned to her with a smile, putting his hands in the pockets of his black slacks.

"Not really." he told her reassuringly. "You know what they say: no news is good news."

Clara gave a wide smile along with a slight nod over head. Kane however stared at her with a frown forming on his face. Seeing this, Clara's smile also evaporated into thin air with her looking worried.

"Is something the matter?" she asked him. Kane let out a sigh, shrugging.

"I suppose." He admitted. "It's a little hard to explain."

This fact didn't help Clara feel any better, only making her more curious about what was troubling his mind. Kane turned around once again, reaching for a tome that he hadn't taken out in some time. He pulled it out, brushing the dust of it off. Heading over to his chair once again and sitting down, he motioned for Clara to do the same in a chair that sat close to his.

Without complaining in the slightest, she did as she was told. Before sitting, she grabbed her jagged tail and positioned it so it wasn't crushed as she sat down. Kane's fingertips tapped on the cover of the book as he looked into Clara's eyes.

"I think it's about time I read you something." he told her. Surprisingly, Clara seemed to be excited, not taking it as seriously as Kane was.

"I would love to listen to you read something!" she told him with her cheeks turning red from happiness. Electrical sparks started spurting out time to time from her joy. Kane sighed, unable to hold back his smile.

"I'm glad to her it," he told her. "but before I start reading, I want you to know that this is a very long story. It also has some spelling errors and grammar issues that may make me fumble when a read out loud, so try to bear with it if you can."

"We've got plenty of time." Clara said with a smile. "Besides, your entire week seems to be free so it's not like there's any rush and I've never really minded grammatical errors. I sometimes even misspell my own name if I don't pay attention."

Once again, Kane met her smile with one of his own.

"This story may get a little violent as well." Kane added. "There's a lot of fighting and action that might be a little hard for you to take in."

"Nonsense." she laughed. "I like stuff like that anyway."

"One more thing," Kane told her. "there's a lot of dirty parts."

Clara blinked, unsure what he meant. Kane sighed, feeling as if he were about to start flossing with bared wire due to the awkwardness.

"What I mean is that there is a fair amount of sexual content." Kane elaborated. That made Clara's smile get even larger.

"I honestly don't mind at all." she admitted. "I like that stuff even more..."

Kane was a little taken back with her honestly, but had to respect her for it regardless. He opened the book and was about to start reading.

"What's the book called?" Clara interrupted. Kane stopped just before he spoke the first word of the story. He looked up from the book to meet eye contact with her.

"Flame of Life." he said. The title alone made Clara excited. Not wanting to keep her on the edge of her seat (which was literally how she was sitting), Kane began to read aloud.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Opening his eyes, Matthew found himself lying on a wooden floor. He was beside a bed that was the size for a young child. Pulling himself up proved to be challenging. His arms and legs felt like wet noodles as he pushed himself up off the floor, nearly stumbling forward once on his feet. With a splitting headache, Matthew stood in what he persevered to be a kid's room.

There were posters on the wall with Pokemon on them, books with Pokemon on the covers stacked on a bookshelf, and even a pikachu themed computer in the corner. Whoever this person was they really liked Pokemon a lot. Matthew scratched his head, trying to remember how he got there. The last thing he could remember was a bolt of light blinding him after he entered the machine at Otto's place. He looked around the room once more. Then how the hell did he end up in a place like this?

His headache wasn't getting any better standing there. Seeing the door to the room, Matthew drug his feet, nearly tripping on an NES that had been laid out next to a TV siting on the floor. The headache only seemed to get worse the farther he went.

After popping his head in and out the doors of the upper floor and finding nobody, he decided it was best to mosey on downstairs in an attempt to maybe find out what was going on. The only way he could describe how his body felt (besides the splitting pain in his head) was that he had been on a long car ride that had no end to it. His muscles felt stiff and each footstep he took was louder than the last one as he clumsily descended down the steps of the home.

Downstairs smelt of grilled meat with the sound of sizzling coming from the kitchen section of the room. The lower part of the home was fairly spacious, being a single room. Cooking on the stove with an apron was a woman in her late thirties it appeared. She had dark hair that went down to her upper back and wore a blouse and skirt that hid her knees.

Matthew stood there blinking, looking around the room feeling rather awkward. The thing that motivated him speak up was his headache pounding his head like a drum. He moved forward with the woman still not noticing that he was present. Matthew cleared his throat. The woman still didn't hear him as she continued to cook.

"Excuse me," he finally spoke, "Miss?"

The woman literally jumped in fright, finally seeing Matthew standing there. She screamed at the top of her lungs in terror, quickly grabbing a kitchen knife closest to her. Matthew covered his ears with them shattering from her shrill of horror. She pointed the knife at him, backing into the corner.

"Ma'am," he quickly told her as she panicked, "I'm just as confused as you are! Please, don't scream so loudly or my ears are going to burst!"

She trembled with the kitchen knife in hand.

"Sissy!" she cried at the top of her lungs! "Sissy!"

Matthew was taken back by her remark.

"I know this isn't an ideal way to meet," Matthew told her offended, "but name calling is a bit much, don't you think?"

Unexpectedly, the door of the home was flung open. A woman wearing a kimono with a wooden object in her hands saw what was going on. Matthew froze, seeing what he believed to be to be a woman mixed with a dark-orange, furred dog charging at him with the wooden stick-thing dashing towards him.

She swung downward, narrowly missing as Matt moved out of the way. The object she was using was definitely wooden, but at the same time held the consistency of that of a sword. It was so sharp that it stuck into the floor boards, making Matthew unintentionally holler in fear. The furred woman pulled out the sword from the floor, swinging it at him again. Matthew hit the floor on his belly as the wooden sword swooped overhead.

"What the hell is going on!" He cried, rolling over to his back. He saw the furred woman hold the wooden sword up to his neck. He held up his hands as he laid on the ground shaking in fear.

"State your business in the mistress's home!" the woman barked (not literally, mind you.) Matthew could feel sweat forming on his forehead.

"I don't even know how I got here!" he told her. "Please, you have to believe me!"

The furred woman snarled as Matthew examined her further. Her kimono was a light gray and by the angle that she was standing he could see a red collar around her neck. Her eyes were a chestnut brown and the coloration of her fur was a 'tough' orange with the occasional black stripe. Matthew could hardly believe it.

"Are you some sort of...Growlthe?" he asked her in awe. She looked at him as if he were mocking her.

"I commend your powers of observations." she told him half hearted. "but I must say that you've chosen a poor choice of last words."

The furred woman raised her wooden sword upwards. She motioned as if she were about to strike in a stabbing motion.

"Wait!" he pleaded, looking over at the woman cowering in the corner with the kitchen knife still in hand. "Please, Lady, I'll explain what I know, just don't have her kill me!"

"Do not address my mistress as 'Lady' you degenerate!" the furred woman demanded. The woman in the corner stopped shaking and got a hold of her self. Regaining composer, she looked at the furred woman in the kimono.

"Sissy," she said, "please, put your weapon away. I don't want to kill someone who may be innocent."

The furred woman nearly snapped her neck in the direction of her mistress.

"Innocent!" she cried. "He's clearly a thief or a rapist! He may be even working for Team Rocket!"

"Team Rocket?" Matthew repeated as if he were dreaming. Was any of this real or was he just having some sort of strange nightmare? The furred woman grabbed Matthew by the collar of his shirt, pulling him up. Her eyes seemingly paralyzed him as she shook him with one hand.

"Tell me, you swine!" she yelled. "Are you a thief!? A rapist?! Or are you really a member of Team Rocket trying to steal from us!"

"Sissy," The woman in the apron told her. "let him speak."

The furred woman closed her eyes as if trying to hold back her aggression.

"Yes, mistress." she said with as much elegance as she could. Letting go of Matthew's shirt, she glared at him as he backed up, holding his neck with a relieved sigh.

"I thought you were going to kill me." Matthew coughed. The furred woman pointed her wooden sword at him and bared her teeth.

"I will if you don't start talking you son of a-"

"Sissy." the lady in the apron said assertively. The furred woman lowered her sword and sighed.

"Yes, mistress."

Matthew looked at both the furred woman in the kimono and the woman with the apron with the silence in the room almost unbearable.

"I'm honestly not sure where to begin." Matthew said putting a hand awkwardly on the back of his neck.

For the next hour, Matthew talked about what had happened to him. Deciding it was best to be straightforward and not hide anything, even if it was possibly unbelievable, he told them ever detail he could remember.

He talked about where he had come from, explaining that Pokemon where he came from was just a game and that he definitely didn't understand what it was like here considering the furred woman's appearance. He talked about the machine he entered and how he found himself upstairs in the room and him stumbling downstairs.

"...and then _this_ happened." Matthew finished. They were all sitting cross-legged on the floor at that time in front of a small table. Matthew sat on one side with the other two woman sitting on the other side. The furred woman had made tea, not once looking away from Matthew in fear he'd attack her mistress or try to escape. The lady in the apron however seemed rather worried for Matthew.

"So you have no idea where you are?" she asked him. He sadly shook his head.

"I don't." he told her. Sissy, who had her arms crossed, huffed after finally turning her head from him.

"Do you know anything about Pokemon?" The woman in the apron asked him. Matthew gave her a confused look.

"Sorta." he told her. "Only what I've played in video games. I never knew they were like...that."

He was looking at Sissy, who in return gave him a death glare. She subtly reached for her wooden sword that rested beside her.

"Leave it, Sissy." the woman told her. The furred woman groaned, letting go of her sword and crossing her arms once more. The woman in the apron looked Matthew in the eyes.

"It sounds like you've come a long way from home." she told him. "I'm not sure anyone here in Pallet town would be able to help you.

That name rang a bell.

"Hey," Matthew told her, "that's one of the towns in my game."

"Of course it is." the furred woman muttered to herself. Matthew just ignored her.

"What game?" the woman asked him.

Matthew began to explain the Pokemon game he had. The more he explained the more the furred woman looked at him as if he were deranged..

"That's ridiculous!" the furred woman told him. "You really think that _kids_ go off and battle potential dangers like _that_? Most grown men are even too afraid to live the life of a Pokemon trainer, let alone allow young children go off on their own to fulfill some naïve 'destiny' to 'catch them all!' Pokemon aren't slaves or trophies to horde on a shelf!"

Matthew swallowed, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Like I said," he told her trying to save what little confidence he had left. "It was just a game."

The woman in the apron sat there with a hand on her chin, thinking hard about something.

"I hate to say this," she told him, "but the world of Pokemon isn't as playful as you've come to believe; it can be very cruel. Being a trainer is possibly the most dangerous profession as well as rewarding one. The first thing you must know is that Pokemon have two forms despite what you have been taught. They can take the shape of human-like forms as well as the form of a beast." She looked at the furred woman who in return let out a subtle sigh, nodding her head.

The furred woman closed her eyes with her forms turning completely white. As if a flip of a switch, the furred woman hopped out of the kimono, except she wasn't a woman anymore. She was a what he assumed to be Growlthe. She looked larger than he expected a Growlthe to be, being four feet tall on all paws. She sat there beside her mistress.

"Most Pokemon, especially those who are still feral and wild," the woman in the apron proceeded. "choose their creature side over their human-like counterpart due to being able to survive better in the wild that way. Some, those that have a low intelligence, are actually unable to know how to transform from both forms. They either have to learn or have special gear to enable them."

"Gear?" Matthew repeated. The lady smiled at him, pointing at the red collar around the Growlthe's neck.

"This collar for instance allows her to talk to us in a way that we can understand her instead of only being able to say her name." She explained. "Without it I wouldn't be able to communicate effectively with her."

"Even when she's in a human-like form?"

"Yes," the lady added. "even in her human form."

The Growlthe looked at her owner wagging her tail slowly side to side.

"Mistress," she interrupted politely, "as much as I don't mind helping you explain..."

The lady seemed like she almost forgot something.

"I forgot, Sissy," she apologized, "feel free to change back."

The Growlthe trotted around the kimono and slipped through the end of it. With another white light, the furred woman had reappeared.

"Thank you, mistress." she told her, grabbing her cup of tea and sipping it with grace. Matthew was still trying to understand everything. In the midst of it all, he had forgotten to properly address himself.

"My name is Matthew." he told them both. "But I prefer Matt."

"You're very polite" the woman in the apron told him with a smile. The furred woman in the kimono huffed.

"Very polite indeed." She mocked. The lady in the apron sighed, giving Matt an apologetic smile. It made him feel slightly warm inside.

"You'll have to forgive my Growlthe," she told him. "she can be a bit irritable at times. Her name is Sissy."

The furred woman folded her arms again and lowered her head with shut eyes. Matt was starting to become afraid of her again as he looked over at her wooden sword beside her.

"With all due respect, mistress." she told her. "I don't like him."

"I've gathered that much." Matt told her a little more cocky than he intended. She opened her eyes at him, glaring into his soul it seemed. The lady put a hand on Sissy's leg.

"Be kind, Sissy." she instructed. Sissy sighed and took a large breath afterward in an attempt to calm herself.

"Yes, mistress." she spoke with a respectful tone of voice. Matt gazed at the lady in the apron.

"And whom might you be, ma'am?" he inquired.

She told him her name.

"But most people jokingly just call me Mom since I act like one to the town."

Matt blinked a few times, then began to laugh. With a fire in her eyes, Sissy gave the most enraged looks she had ever given to him.

"Do not laugh at my mistress!" she demanded. Matt quickly shut up.

"I'm sorry," he told Mom embarrassed. "It's just that...well, you'd be the only person I'd ever called Mom."

Sissy's rage turned into confusion with Mom's eyes saddening.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked him gently. Matt grabbed the tea on the table and took a sip, taking a moment before speaking.

"I never had parents that I could remember." he explained with the cup of tea in his hand. "I lived with my aunt for a few years before she died and then I lived with a friend after that."

Mom got quiet, looking down at the table. Sissy even felt a little ashamed that she had yelled at him like she did. It was easy for Matt to see that he had caused an awkward rift in the room, coughing to himself to fill the soundless void.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Mom told him. Matt shrugged as if it were nothing.

"It's really not that big of a deal." he told her. "Besides, feeling sorry isn't going to help me find a way home, is it?"

Mom was impressed by his positivity.

"No," she said with confidence returning, "it isn't. The only person I could think would be able to help you would be Bill, assuming you could find him."

More gaming knowledge popped into Matt's head.

"Isn't he a Pokemon fanatic or something." Matt inquired.

"More than just that," she explained to him, "He's one of the brightest minds of our time. If anyone could figure out how to get you back home it would be him. Getting to him however is a task of it's own."

"How is that?" Matt asked. Mom stood up from the floor, walking over to the kitchen. She opened one of the top drawers and pulled out a map. Coming back over, she sat down and set the map on the table. She pointed at one of the locations.

"This is Pallet town." she told him, she moved her finger all the way towards another town. "This is where Bill lives. It's definitely a long way to go to get to him."

"I'm guessing the roads there aren't the safest either with wild Pokemon all about." Matt added. Mom once again nodded her head. A discouraging feeling sunk to the bottom of his gut. He stood up from the floor and politely bowed his head towards her.

"One way or another I've gotta get there." he told her. "I better start walking and take my chances."

Mom looked into Matt's eyes. In them was a spark that she hadn't seen in a long time. That spark reminded her of someone she used to love very much when he were still a child. She stood up as well with Sissy following suit.

"Wait a minute." she told him. "You're not going to get very far if you're not prepared."

Sissy looked at her mistress in distress, wondering why she was showing hospitality towards a complete stranger. A stranger who could very well just be lying about everything.

"Mistress," she implored, "we hardly know this Matt character. We can't afford to just-"

"Sissy," Mom told her calmly, "please..."

Sissy sighed, bowing her head.

"Forgive me." she said in a hushed and almost hurt tone. Mom told Matt to wait downstairs with Sissy while she got something. The two of them waited downstairs with Sissy giving Matt the same evil eye she had been giving him since she nearly killed him.

It wasn't long before Mom came back down the stairs with a small handful of things. She handed it to him with a wry smile on her face. There was a yellow backpack, a red zip up jacket, and a red cap with a Pokemon symbol on the front of it.

"Here," she said as he took the stuff in disbelief, "Take it. When my son was younger he wanted to be a Pokemon trainer. I told him when he grew up I'd let him."

Matt held the things unsure.

"But won't your son want these?" Matt asked worried. "It doesn't feel right for me to just take them."

She shook her head with her smile still there as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"He died years ago." she told him. "I'm just glad to see what I bought will finally have some use. You wouldn't believe the money I spent on it all. Speaking of money, you'll find some in the pack along with a few extra things that will be useful for your journey. It's in the front pouch."

Matt slipped on the red jacket which looked nice over his white T-shirt. In addition, he put on the red cap, wearing it with the bill in the back and some of his hair sticking out the front of it. Patting himself down and wiping off his pants, he stood in front of Mom and Sissy.

"You look nice." Mom told him. Sissy was about to explode with objection to everything.

"It fits perfectly." Matt told her surprised. "Thank you so much; I don't know what to say..."

"Like I said," Mom smiled, "I'm just glad you'll make use out of it."

Holding her tongue, Sissy stood there as Matt began to search through the backpack. Inside he found three extra Pokeballs, two healing potions, a flip phone, and a strange electronic tablet. Matt took out one of the Pokeballs and looked at Mom as if for an explanation.

"I've only played the games after all." he told her a little shyly. "I'm sure it's nothing like the real thing."

Mom took the ball from his hand and turned it around, pointing at a button on the back of it. Beneath the button was a vertical switch that was color coded notches. The left side was red, the middle was green, and the right side was blue.

"Every vacant poke ball you have needs your DNA." she explained, placing his finger on the button. She pressed his finger down on it with a needle pricking it. Matt cringed, removing his finger away from the ball. "You see, every Pokemon you obtain with the ball that has your DNA information is linked to you, giving you the ability to control the said Pokemon due a mental bond. You see these notches?"

Matt nodded.

"These indicate the level of free will you're allowing."

"Free will?" Matt repeated surprised.

"Some Pokemon have behavior issues, usually those that don't like you. The less they like you the more you'll likely be forced to control them. The more in the red you are the more control you have. The more you're in the blue area however is the more free will you allow. The trick is the right balance. For instance, since Sissy and I have great bound, I don't need to control her at all; I know she will listen yet I give her the choice to defy me if she disagrees with something I do."

Ironically, Sissy was biting her tongue so hard it was about to bleed.

"The more you control a Pokemon the less they'll defy you, but that makes it harder in combat for them to fight since they can't sometimes perform as well considering their natural instinct to either dodge or attack a certain way is being blocked out. The more in the red you are the more you have to control your Pokemon, but the more you're in the blue means the less you're forced to control but the less influence the trainer has over the battle."

Matt thought about it for a while, trying to get everything straight.

"So the red zone is good for Pokemon that are disobedient while the blue zone is good for Pokemon that choose to listen to you, giving them the upper hand of natural reflex and response time."

"It sounds like you're getting the hang of it." Mom told him feeling a bit proud.

"And I take it the green is a mutual thing?" Matt input.

"Right on the money." she told him with a smile.

Setting the Pokeball back in the bag, He pulled out one of the health potions. It looked like a small spray bottle with pink cleaning solution.

"So how does this stuff work exactly?" he asked her.

"Just spray it on the injury and it'll heal almost instantly."

He shrugged, accepting her explanation, even if it did feel a bit vague at the time. He placed the potion back. The phone was a bit self explanatory, but just to be sure, he took it out to ask questions. It wasn't wise to have something if you didn't know how to use it in the first place.

"This looks like a normal phone." he told her flipping it open. The background was of a pikachu smiling cheerfully."

"That's because it is." she laughed. "It's solar powered and can send out a distress signal if your in trouble."

Matt slipped the phone in the backpack, finally pulling out the weird tablet.

"What is this thing?" he asked her.

"Just like the Pokeballs," Mom explained, "that requires a DNA signature as well."

Matt looked at her funny.

"What for?" he asked. She looked almost too frightened to tell him.

"You see, the line of a trainer is highly deadly with the trainer and their Pokemon becoming injured at times. It's needed to heal them and to heal their injuries such as severed limbs, concussions, and anything else you can think of. It's called Trainer Insurance. It keeps track of medical history as well as other necessary information that is needed at the Pokemon center. You wouldn't believe how much I spent on it."

Matt swallowed hard in fear that he had heard her correctly. She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry." she told him with confidence. "Something tells me you won't need it. Much."

Matt placed his finger on a similar button on the side like the Pokeball from before had. He pressed down, feeling a painful prick in his finger. He put the tablet back, shaking his hand in pain.

"Looks like I'm ready to go them." he told her with a ambitiously. She smiled back at him, shaking her head.

"Not quite." she told him. Mom looked at Sissy almost apologetic, forcing herself to smile. "Sissy, I need you to go with Matt."

Sissy was mortified. Her face was like she had just witness the beheading of a baby.

"W-w-what?!" she stuttered! "But Mistress, I-"

"Sissy," Mom told her with sincere voice, "please, just listen to what I have to say."

Even Matt didn't know what to think. As much as he appreciated all the help he was being given, he wasn't sure that having Sissy with him was a great idea. He'd hardly known her for more than an hour and she'd already despised him. Not to mention tried to kill him.

"But mistress," she protested, "you can't just give me away like this..."

Mom looked her in the eye like any mother would do. Their relationship certainly was an interesting one in Matt's opinion.

"Do you remember what you told me after my son died?" she asked Sissy. Lowering her head as if ashamed about something, she nodded. "This is your chance. Even if Matt came to us in an unpredictable manner and we've hardly gotten to know him, I know he's telling the truth. Please, Sissy, he needs your help. I doubt he'd be able to find his way without your guidance."

"Also remember this: you need guidance yourself. You've still have a lot more training if you're ever to achieve what you said you wanted. Listen to Matt and follow his instructions. He'll lead you to your goal if you trust him."

Sissy ruined the deep moment by protesting.

"What makes you think he knows more about fighting then myself?" she asked her. Even if he was a little insulted, Matt put his hands on his sides confidently.

"If you must know," he said cockily, "I've had my fair share of fighting. I know a thing or two when it comes to a fight."

Sissy rolled her eyes, making Matt feel as if he were only a few inches tall. Mom reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out another Pokeball. She handed it over to him carefully.

"This is Sissy's Pokeball." she told him. "Before she can officially be yours, you need to reactivate the DNA coding."

Matt placed his finger on the button of the Pokeball, pressing down slowly until he felt a prick. No matter how many times he did it it still hurt like a bitch. Holding the Pokeball felt good to him; he sorta felt proud about having his first Pokemon, even if she did hate him. Mom gave a nurturing look at Sissy who, even though she tried to hide it, was on the verge of tears.

"Sissy," she told her, "please believe me when I tell you I'm not just doing this for Matt, but I'm doing this for you as well. You deserve to have your wish come true and by keeping you here you'll never accomplish it. I know this is a lot for you to take in, but I know you'll manage."

Sissy looked at her mistress and then to Matt. Without saying another word she made her way to the front door with her wooden sword in hand.

"I'll be waiting for you outside, Master" she said very dryly before closing the door behind her. It took a second for Matt to realize that she had called _him_ master. It was flattering, but the way she said it made him feel sorry for her. He didn't mean for her to be stuck with him, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

"I would suggest staying for a little while," Mom told Matt, "but it seems Sissy is eager to leave."

She could see the worried look in Matt's eye.

"Don't worry," she told him, "I'm sure you'll both get along fine. However-" she took Sissy's Pokeball from him and turned the switch on it to green. "I think it'll be a good idea to have some restraints for now.

A half hour later Mom had finally finished giving him things for his travel to Bill's. Said items included the map from before, a large sleeping bag, and some packaged food. Not only had she given him material things but she had also told him the dos and don'ts when it came to Sissy.

"Unlike most Pokemon she hates being in her ball." she explained to her. "I know it's a lot to ask and I know she might get on your nerves at times, but please try not to put her away. This is going to be a hard adjustment for her."

Matt nodded in compliment.

"Understood." he told her. "Again, thank you so much for everything. Not just anyone would help a complete stranger, especially not one who randomly found themselves in your home."

"Don't worry about it." she laughed. "Believe it or not, stranger things have happened."

The two of them walked towards the door.

"As weird as this might sound," he told her, "you're the closest thing I've ever had to having a mom before."

Mom felt touched by his words.

"I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a son." she also admitted. "Feel free to call me anytime you're discouraged or unsure of what to do."

Both of them exited the home, finding Sissy standing outside waiting with her wooden sword by her side. She looked as ready as she'd ever have been. With a frown on her face, she said goodbye to Mom without a hug or anything, which was something Matt was sort of half expecting in the back of his mind. Most likely it would have been too painful for her to do.

"Are we ready to go?" Sissy asked Matt.

"Yeah," he told her, "I'm ready."

The two of them began to walk, making their way onto the street of Pallet Town.

"Sissy," Matt said almost in a whisper. "may I ask you something?"

There was a moment of silence as they walked.

"I suppose." she replied.

"What was Mom talking when she referred to your 'wish.'"

There was another moment of silence, but this time there was no response.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

Sissy and Matt walked through the small town of Pallet, every now and then getting a random stare from someone on the side of the street. For the most part, Sissy and Matt had said nothing to each other. But every now and then Matt would try to make small talk.

"So," he said as the two of them walked past a store selling grilled salmon. "do you know where we're going?"

"Don't be an idiot." she told him harshly. "Unlike you I know what I'm supposed to be doing. We're supposed to travel north towards Viridian. Once we're out of town it should be about a little more than a days walk."

Her insult cut Matt deep. Sissy was starting to sound a lot like Rachel. Rachel's name alone made him hurt inside, but he forced himself to think of something different. He looked down at Sissy's side at her sword.

"Why do you have a wooden sword?" he asked her curiously. She glanced over to him, making eye contact for only a split second before looking forward towards the end of town.

"It's my weapon of choice." she told him. Matt raised an eyebrow a little perplexed.

"I take it that was the only thing you could afford?" he implied. Sissy audibly groaned.

"First of all I _made_ this sword," she told him sounding irritated. "secondly it's called a bokuto. And before you ask why I chose to have one, it's because I enjoy the handling of it among other reasons."

Matt wanted to ask what other reasons why she chose a bokuto as a weapon, and would have possibly made a 'got wood' joke, but knew it would only get him a face full of wood. No dirty joke intended. Even if Sissy was trying to stonewall him, he decided to keep trying to break the ice between them in hopes that she wouldn't hate him.

"Why are you named Sissy?" he asked her. Sissy glanced over at him with her classic I'm-going-to-slit-your-throat face.

"Why must you ask so many questions?" she groaned.

"I'm just trying to make conversion." he told with a forced smile. "How are we to ever going be friendly towards each other if we don't know a thing about one another?"

Sissy got a laugh out of that.

"I take it you haven't received the feeling that I dislike you then." she told him. Matt cringed.

"I already knew that much," he told her. "but can we at least be civil? So why are you named Sissy?"

With more people staring at them as they passed, Sissy sighed.

"If you must know," she said, "my mistress' son was the one who named me. He was a child at the time and thought it was a fitting name." she looked at him less aggressively this time. Perhaps he was making progress with her? Just as soon as the question had been answered another came to mind.

"Why do you wear a kimono?" Matt asked her not even four seconds after she had just answered his previous question. She gritted her teeth in anger, refraining from trying to do something rash.

"Because I feel that it makes me look elegant and it's comfortable to wear." she responded with her teeth clamped together in irritation. Matt didn't say anything after that for a while as the two of them passed by a small group of people outside of a small store.

"That's another thing." Matt added. "You speak so formally; it's sorta weird."

"What is it that you mean?" she asked becoming even more irritated.

"Like that." he told her. "Why do you talk like that?"

Sissy was nearly at her breaking point.

"Because...I...chose...to..." she forced herself to say without flying off the handle. Matt could sense the hostility.

"I don't mean to upset you." he apologized. She didn't want to look at him for the simple fact that she didn't think she could do so without trying to snap his neck.

"It's fine." she grumbled.

The two of them continued to walk through Pallet town with Matt taking in the sights. It was a small town, but much larger than the game he played had ever depicted. There were shops filling the main street with people hustling on by, doing their own things. It was odd though: half the people stared at the two of them as they passed as if seeing them were some great spectacle. Matt chose to ignore them, but still, it wasn't enjoyable to have so many people staring like that.

Trying to keep his mind occupied as they walked side by side, he glanced over at her. Unintentionally, he looked down at her butt, not realizing how unappropriated it must have looked to anyone who didn't know what he was pondering. Even so, Sissy was completely covered in the kimono, hiding the majority of her figure.

"Hey, Sissy?" He asked, looking up at her. "Do you have a tail?"

His question bounced around in her head. It was probably the most ridiculous question anyone could ever ask.

"I don't understand what you mean." she told him unsure. He pointed at her backside.

"Well, I know from the game I played that Growlthe's have tails, but I don't know if you have one in your human-form thingy. It's hard to tell since you're wearing that kimono."

Sissy finally snapped. Her neck darted in his direction.

"Yes!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "I have a tail in this form! Are you satisfied with my answer!"

Matt was so startled that he jumped backwards. Her voice was so loud his ear drums rang, now with people from all directions turning to see the spectacle. Matt couldn't help but to follow up on his question.

"What's it look like?" he asked meekly. Her eyes blazed in anger at him. "I'm just curious, that's all!"

"Well I'm certainly not going to take off my dress to show you!" she raved. Sissy finally started melting down. "Let's get this strait! I don't like you and I never _will_ like you! I'm doing this because my mistress has instructed me to do so and for all I care you can die in a ditch when this is all over with! Please, if you have any dignity whatsoever, be silent!"

They exited the town and began to walk north on the trail that would eventually lead to Viridian. Matt held the straps of his backpack with the sleeping bag rolled up and attached under it. It was quiet for the next few minutes with Sissy still upset. Bravely, Matt opened his mouth to ask another question, but quickly stopped himself. Sissy noticed and sighed, knowing there was no stopping it.

"Just ask what you're going to ask." she told him as they walked the trail "I'd rather you ask now instead of having that stupid look on your face."

Matt felt a little uncomfortable about asking what was on his mind.

"I know this is going to sound perverted-"

"Never mind," she interrupted before he finished, "I don't want to know."

The two of them kept walking with Matt actually glad she didn't let him finish his question.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

**The world of Pokemon is a dangerous one. Since Pokemon run wild, most people aren't brave enough to travel the roads without Pokemon of their own or at least being well armed. Since Matt is new to this concept, not knowing the severity of the matter, he has all the confidence in the world, ready to take on what challenges await. Perhaps naïve, Matt nonetheless is showing great promise, taking large strides with Sissy by his side.**

Matt looked around confused.

"Did you hear something?" He asked Sissy. "I swear I heard someone talking."

"You're just imagining things." She told him, honestly not caring what he had to say in the slightest.

"It feels like we've been walking forever." Matt said to Sissy, still desperately trying to make an attempt to start a conversation. All she did was nod her head to his comment not honestly caring what he thought. She was too busy with her own thoughts to deal with his nonsense.

With hills of green grass in the distance, she watched Pidgeys flying, creating silhouettes as they flew past the sun. She too wished she could grow wings and fly away. Anywhere away from Matt would be good enough. He was driving her insane with his constant dialog that seemingly had no end. Would he ever shut up?

A gust of wind picked up as Matt held onto his new hat and his jacket. It blew Sissy's kimono to the side, lifting up just barely for Matt see the shadow of her foot. It didn't look like she had any shoes or even sandals on. Unsure, he decided to ask her. It was becoming clear to him that he was running out of topics to talk about with her. Or at least _try_ to talk to her about.

"What are you wearing below?" he asked her. Sissy shot him a disgusted look. He quickly had to catch himself, realizing what he had just said sounded wrong. "I'm referring to your feet."

"Oh." she said finally understanding, looking back on the trail ahead of them. "I'm not wearing anything on my feet."

This worried as well as confused Matt.

"You don't have any shoes?" he asked. Another gust of wind blew by.

"I don't like the way shoes feel on my feet." she told him. "I feel constricted. It's actually a bit of a hassle for Pokemon that changed into their beast form in battle with shoes on their feet."

"Even sandals?" he inquired. She nodded.

"Yes, even-" she stopped in mid sentence, giving Matt a dirty look. After what must have been over two hours of walking, he finally got her to have somewhat of a conversation. "The sooner this journey is over the better."

Matt was finally beginning to get mad at her.

"Come on," he told her with an attitude, "you don't have to treat me like I'm trash."

"I beg to differ." she told him wittily. Matt stopped walking with his hand in a fist.

"Okay, that's enough!" he told her. She stopped as well, looking very unimpressed with his outburst.

"Are you quite finished?" she asked him. Matt thrashed his head to the side.

"The hell I am!" he yelled. "Just what makes you so much better than me? I didn't ask for your help in the first place!"

She got in his face and locked eyes with him.

"Without me you'd be wandering in circles." she said with a dark tone.

"You're a bitch..." he scowled.

His remark made her eyes dilate. There had only been one time someone called her bitch: a drunk in Pallet town that bumped into her when she was buying food for Mom. The man had his arm broken in three different places.

She thrusted her open hand at him.

"Don't hit me!" he yelled out of reflex, closing his eyes. He didn't feel anything.

When nothing happened, he slowly opened one of his eyes to see Sissy with her hand only inches away from his face. Her hand shook, unable to move it any closer to him. The fur on her forehead looked damp from sweat due to straining. Matt remembered her Pokeball and that her free will was set on green. She wouldn't be able to do anything if he told her not to.

** The truth is, Pokemon and their trainers are linked together, as already mentioned previously. The more their will is controlled the harder it is for them to disobey, assuming their will power is equally matched. Throughout the years, stories of Pokemon with superior will power were heard being able to do as they pleased even when the will meter was set on max red. Whoever is more experienced, whether it be trainer of Pokemon, their will typically wins.**

Matt once again thought he heard a voice, but ignored it.

"Now sit." He told her standing there with her hand still in the air. She forced herself to stand.

"No." she told him defiantly. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out her Pokeball.

"Just sit." he told her. She glared at him with her forehead almost soaked in sweat at that point from the strain of fighting his will power. Matt looked at her, almost begging Sissy to listen. "Don't make me turn your free will down. One way or another you're going to sit, so please just do it."

Sissy continued to give him an evil eye, crouching down and plopping down on her butt.

"Thank you." Matt said sitting down in front of her. They both sat in the middle of the road walkway, but considering they were literally the only ones walking it didn't matter much.

"Hear me out," he told her, "I really need you right now. I'm _literally_ in a whole new world and I have no clue how I could get to Bill on my own. Like it or not, I need your help getting me there. Can we please work together instead of against each other?"

Sissy laughed as if he were joking, looking over his shoulder. She was smug at first, but her face changed to a more serious glare. Wondering what she was looking at, Matt turned to see to see it standing there on the road.

Frothing at the mouth was a Rattata. Unlike what he had seen in his game, this Rattata was larger and looked way more vicious than the cute version that was depicted. It clawed the ground, standing with his back sticking up and snarling. Not only was it less cute but it was much larger being about three feet tall on all fours.

Both Sissy and Matt jumped to their feet with Sissy drawing her bokuto, taking a stance with both hands on her sword. Matt stayed behind her while the Rattata's mouth foamed. Sissy stood there unmoved, standing off with the raging Rattata. She quickly glanced at Matt nervously.

"Don't just let me stand here!" she hollered "I need your approval to attack!"

Matt had completely spaced out, forgetting that he had to still order her since her will meter was on green. The Rattata charged at them with a snarl, leaping towards Matt.

"Attack!" He cried, covering his face. Before the Rattata could reach him, Sissy slapped it with the side of her bokuto. It went flying in the air, landing on it's side with a painful thud. It pulled itself up with dirt caked in it's fur. Sissy stood her ground with confidence as Matt's heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest.

Sissy engaged by running at full speed with her bokuto clenched in her hands, holding it to the side with the tip almost touching the ground. The Rattata screeched with it's tail sticking up. Dust flew in the air as Sissy swung her bokuto, missing the Rattata just barely. Only able to watch in a paralyzing shock, Matt felt fear bubbling up in his chest. It was like his intestines were being tied in knots.

As fast as she was, Sissy couldn't managed to hit the Rattata as it dodged each of her attacks. Frustrated, she stabbed downwards at it with a yell. Her bokuto stuck in the road with the Rattata jumping to the side. Following afterward, he leapt for her face with bared claws. Even though she saw it coming Sissy couldn't moved fast enough. It felt like another half of her was holding her back.

She was cut across the bridge of her nose with droplets of blood hitting the ground, soaking into the dirt. Sissy jumped backwards with her bokuto still in the ground and the Rattata holding it's stance. It thrashed it's tail every now and then as if anticipating for her to attack. Sissy held her hands up in a fighting pose, glaceing over to Matt. He was standing there still in shock.

"Master," she told him with gruff in her voice, "I feel as if I'm being held back."

"I-I don't understand..." he told her.

Sissy cursed, still holding her ground. The Rattata was inching his way over to her.

"Master," Sissy told him, "I can't do this alone. Without your guidance I'll surely loose."

Matt swallowed, exhaling nervously.

"O-okay," he said stumbling over his words, "I'll try."

The Rattata leapt once again, darting at Sissy's face at full speed. Matt didn't know what to say, but his gut was telling him to dodge.

"Move out of the way!" he cried. With Sissy willing herself to move along with Matt directing her, she performed a graceful cartwheel without even touching the ground with hands. It was more or less a side flip with her legs creating a split. For an instant as she flipped in the air, Matt saw the tail as her kimono slid up her body. It was a dark orange like the rest of her fur.

She landed on her feet perfectly with the Rattata landing flat on it's face. It got up with his mouth still frothing, now with dirt covering it's face. Matt thought about the next plan of attack, finally seeing what was wrong. Considering both of their heights, the Rattata could easily run circles around Sissy in her human form. He watched her attack and miss every time without even getting close as she tried attacking with kicks.

"Sissy!" he yelled to her, "You need to use your beast form!"

As if freezing in mid attack, Sissy was stuck. She was clawed across the arm by the Rattata, cursing in pain. He could tell she was fighting his orders, thus being unable to fight. Blood splattered onto the dirt.

"Master!" she demanded. "I refuse to comply with-"

"Just do it, dammit!" Matt yelled, throwing his hand to the side. "You need to work with me, not against me!"

Doing as he said, a bright white light consumed her. Sissy changed into her beast form, leaping out of her kimono. Her Growlthe form was about four feet tall on all fours, being a foot taller than the Rattata. She growled, charging forward at her opponent.

"Tackle him!" Matt ordered.

With a spectacular dash, she bashed into the Rattata and landed on top of him.

"Now aim for the neck!" Matt added.

Sissy violently sunk her teeth into it's neck as it let out a screech. With her ears forced to fold back from the loud, piecing noise, she had to let go. She backed up at the Rattata struggled to stand up, with it's feet trembling in pain. Sissy's bite had gone so deep that blood was running down it's neck. It amazed Matt to see that it was still standing. It looked at her with an evil gaze.

"Ratta-rat-rata!" It growled. With that, it limped away into the foliage with trees that stood tall and proud in the distance. The fight was over.

Sissy walked around her kimono and wiggled her way inside. With a flash of light she had turned into her human-like form, kneeling on the ground. She stood up and walked over to her bokuto as Matt watched her silently. She pulled in out and slid it through a loop on the side of her kimono.

"He told me it wasn't over." she relayed to him with closed eyes. Sissy's right arm had blood on it with the sleeve of her kimono torn along with a cut on her nose. "Just another pointless threat from a Rattata."

Matt approached her worried that she was in pain.

"Are you alright?" He asked her concerned, gently reaching out to touch her arm. She backed away and turned from him.

"I'm fine." She told him angrily. "Pokemon are much stronger than humans. We're much more adept towards handling pain."

**Sissy is right: Pokemon can handle taking damage far more so than a normal human could. Due to genetic makeup and other various factors, Pokemon can handle pain more than any other creature known to man. To some stronger Pokemon, bullets feel like rocks being thrown at them and impalement is a mere sliver, assuming their skin can be pieced by such means.**

Matt quickly looked around them once again.

"There it is again." He told her. She looked at him, rolling her eyes. Brushing off the strange feeling that someone was narrating, Matt looked at her bloody arm with a frown.

"If it makes you feel any better," he told her, "you did great. That flip you did was incredible.

"That was because we were in sync." she explained. He raised an eyebrow, making her sigh, knowing she'd have to waste more of her breath to explain. "When a trainer and a Pokemon work together the ability of the Pokemon is much more enhanced than it would be on it's own."

"I'm not sure I completely follow." he admitted with another frown, expecting Sissy to get mad at him. Surprisingly, she didn't.

"You said my will meter is set on green, correct?" Sissy clarified. Matt nodded his head as a strong gust of wind blew past once again.

"Yeah," he told her, "but what does that have to do with it?"

"Image a fire." she said crouching down on one knee. She started drawing a picture of a flame in the dry dirt. "Now imagine that Pokemon are that fire. Fire itself can be strong and powerful. Trainers themselves are variables to the flame, able to hinder it or increase it. Positive encouragement, a loving bond, and the proper instructions while battling at all like pouring gasoline on the fire."

"But if negative encouragement, a pour relationship, and bad instructions is like stomping out the flame." Matt concluded. Sissy nodded her head as another strong gust of wind blew the dirt, covering the picture she had drawn.

"You're very wise to see that." She told him. Matt smiled, taking her logic one step further.

"So in a sense, it's not always the best to have a Pokemon have complete control. The more free will you give a Pokemon the more they can rely on themselves and the trainer doesn't have to step in as much, but the less they can help them fight. The red however allows more influence, giving the opportunity to, in a sense, pour more gas on the fire, but it's more work for the trainer and hinders the Pokemon at times, unable to attack or dodge properly if the trainer doesn't know what to do."

Sissy nodded her head impressed.

"It sounds like you're getting a grasp for this far better than I expected." she told him. Matt had a large smile on his face.

"That's probably the nicest thing you've said to me." he told her cheerfully. She frowned standing up once again.

"Don't get used to it." she told him. She began to walk toward Viridian once again with Matt following beside her.

Miles later down the road, they finally stopped walking to take a break. They had wandered off the road a ways towards a stream that ran nearby. Matt took off his backpack and sat down on the lush grass, feeling his back pop into place. Sissy knelt down by the river, applying some water to her injuries to clean off the dried blood. Matt stretched his legs and yawned.

"I still can't fully believe this is all happening." he said aloud, not necessarily directed towards Sissy. "It's a lot to take in, this Pokemon actually existing thing and whatnot."

She acted like she didn't hear him, continuing to wash her wounds. Matt was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the thought of her in pain.

"If you want I can get out a potion for you." he told her legitimately concerned. She stood up from the riverside, glancing over to him.

"My injuries are minor." she told him. "I'll be fine the way I am for now."

She came over to his proximity and sat down with her legs crossed. He could see her feet were covered with dirt. Matt had so many things he wanted to ask and to say, but thought it would be better to just enjoy the serenity of the spot they had chosen. It was so peaceful with only the sound of running water.

_GuuUugle..._

And his stomach growling.

Matt opened his pack and reached inside, rustling through his things in the search of the food Mom had packed for him. He pulled out a sandwich, offering it to Sissy by extending his hand. She looked at it, then at him, then back to the sandwich. She looked revolted.

"I'd rather not." she told him. Matt looked at the sandwich not sure what was wrong with it.

"You don't like sandwiches?" he said surprised.

"I'm not hungry." she said with her hands by her sides.

"Are you sure?" Matt asked her. "I can find you something else to eat if you'd like."

"I'm fine." she told him. He could feel her stonewalling him again. Unwrapping the sandwich, the smell of turkey overwhelmed him. Sissy's nose wiggled as she smelt it too. It smelt so good that she almost caved in and accepted his offer, but she told herself not to ask. She refused to beg for food from someone she disliked.

Matt took a large bite, chewing joyfully. Not realizing that Sissy was watching him eat, he looked over to the river. The sun was shinning down with only a few clouds in the sky, shimmering light off of the water and creating a glistening sparkle. Sissy's stomach made a subtle growling noise. Matt looked around curiously to see what the noise was and where it had come from. He looked over at Sissy who was eying his food. She quickly made eye contact with him as if she weren't staring at the sandwich in his possession.

"It sounded like someone was grumbling." he told her. She looked away, hiding her face from him.

"You must be hearing things again." She lied. He looked around again, shrugging afterward.

"Guess I really _am_ just hearing things." he said, followed by another bite of his sandwich. With each chewing motion making Sissy's ears twitched. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. Matt looked over at her sensing something was wrong.

"Are you alright?" he asked her concerned. She couldn't take it anymore. She opened her mouth to speak.

"MEEEEOOOWWWTTTHHHH!"

Matt and Sissy turned their heads startled, seeing something jumping from a nearby tree. It landed on two feet on the grass leaving Matt speechless.

Only wearing hot-red panties was a tan colored cat-woman. Her hair was short and in a jumbled mess, being an identical color to her fur with bright blue eyes. She stood shamelessly before them with her hands on her hips and her tail jolting side to side. Her nipples were erect with her breasts slightly bouncing as she puffed out her chest.

"Meow-meow-m_urr_owth!" she told them. Matt's mouth was open, not sure if his eyes were deceiving him or not. Sissy, even with the fur on her face, was visibly blushing with the orange fur on her face slightly turning redder. The cat-woman got angry as the two of them as they sat there idly.

"Meowth?" she said with anger. "Mow-meowth!"

Unable to not look away from her due to many reasons, one of which was her being half naked, Matt leaned his head over towards Sissy.

"Can you understand her at all?" he inquired. Sissy couldn't seem to take her eyes off her also.

"It's hard to understand her." Sissy whispered to him. "Her language skills are terrible, even in the Pokemon language. I think she's trying to tell you to 'relieve' your food to her."

"Huh?" Matt stood up from the grass with his sandwich still in hand. "You want my sandwich?"

The cat-woman nodded her head with her hands on her hips still. Matt frowned at her, not sure what to make of the strange, half naked cat.

"Why the hell should I?" he asked her. "I'm not just going to give my sandwich away to some half naked stranger. Well, maybe if we were in bed together and-" he stopped himself before saying something he shouldn't. The cat-woman looked like she was about to burst.

"MEOW-MEOWTH-MEOWTH!" she screamed. Matt looked to Sissy for a translation.

"She..." Sissy spoke slowly, not sure if she were translating correctly. "She's says because she's a princess."

Matt looked back at the cat woman, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"I've never heard of a cat being a princess." he told her smugly, examining her forehead to find there was a mark that fur couldn't completely hide. "Wait, isn't she a Meowth?"

"She must be." Sissy added while the half naked Meowth stood before them nearly shaking in rage. "but she doesn't seem to have a coin on her forehead, not to mention she's not in her beast form. How odd."

The Meowth flew into a rage, thrashing her arms around, speaking in her native tongue. Matt looked over to Sissy as she stood up beside him.

"She's telling us to give up the sandwich or she'll make us pay." Sissy translated. Matt cockily grinned at the Meowth, waving the sandwich side to side.

"You want this?" He asked her. She glared back at him with anger. Matt took the rest of the sandwich, only being half now, and shoved it in his mouth. His cheeks were puffed out as he chewed, making the Meowth's mouth hang open. Her eyes began to tear up, quickly wiping her eyes with her arm.

Without warning, she charged at him with her hands extended and letting out a blood-thirsty cry. Sissy quickly drew her bokuto.

"Attack her!" Matt ordered with his mouth full. Sissy jumped in the way of Matt, swinging her bokuto at the Meowth. The Meowth nimbly performed a back flip out of the way. Sissy swung again with the Meowth ducking in time. The Meowth lunged forward at her with her hand swiping in a claw-like attack.

"Block it!" Matt told Sissy.

Sissy did so by smacking the Meowth's hand with the bokuto with the side of it. In doing so the Meowth flew forward, making Matt believe she was going to fall off balance. Instead, she did the unthinkable. Already hunched over, she performed a front flip, grabbing onto Sissy's neck with her thighs. Matt watched as the Meowth sat on Sissy's shoulders with her crotch in her face, hitting her on the head repeatedly. Matt was amazed by her ability. Sissy was...less impressed considering she was inches away from her privates.

"Damn she's flexible!" Matt said to himself as Sissy threw the Meowth off of her.

"I'm gonna kill her!" she yelled swinging her bokuto at the Meowth, missing as it performed another back flip. Matt on the other hand had another idea. He quickly reached into his pack, pulling out the Pokeball that he had activated with his DNA. He looked at it, wondering what to do next.

"Sissy," he yelled as she busily fought with the Meowth, "How do I use a Pokeball."

Sissy looked at him as if he were out of his mind, getting hit across the face by the Meowth when she wasn't paying attention. Matt had almost forgot he was supposed to be helping her.

"Are you crazy?!" Sissy exclaimed. "You want _this_?"

The Meowth leapt in the air and was about to perform a high kick attack.

"Sissy, Catch her foot!"

With lightning like reflexes, Sissy did as she was told and grabbed the Meowth's foot before she could kick her in the face. With a twist, she threw the Meowth off balance, making her hit the ground on her chest. Sissy looked back over to Matt, trying to finish the conversation they had started

"She has assets that would be useful to have." Matt explained. The Meowth got up from the ground, holding her breasts in pain with both hands. She unintentionally squeezed them together, with both Sissy and Matt seeing this. Sissy's face got red again.

"You're a pig!" Sissy yelled at him. The Meowth swung her hand at Sissy again.

"Grab her hand!" he quickly commanded. Sissy did so, grabbing the hand of the Meowth. "Now flip her over!"

The Meowth landed on her back this time with her legs spread open. From the angle Matt was standing, he had a fairly reviling view.

"Just tell me how to use the damn thing already!" he told her. She looked at him as if disgusted.

"All you have to do is throw it at the target." she told him. Matt sighed as the Meowth got up to her feet. He could have just guessed that...

The Meowth swung again, but was completely off. From being thrown around so much and all the flips she had done, she was discombobulated and a little nauseous. Matt tossed the ball up in the air and caught it, taking a pitchers stance. Pulling his arm back, he threw the ball at full force at the Meowth. The Meowth turned to see the ball hurdling towards her.

"Meowth?..."

The ball hit her square in the nose. She flew backwards with blood from her nose trailing behind her, landing on her back again. Sissy was a little shocked by Matt's display.

"I didn't mean _litterally_ at her" she told him as the Pokeball opened. "I just meant _near_ her."

The Meowth glowed red and was sucked into the ball.

Matt walked over to the Pokeball as the white circle on the front of it glowed a bright red. The ball didn't move at all. Wasn't it supposed to jiggled side to side just like in the game?

"She isn't fighting to escape?" he said confused. Sissy withdrew her bokudo and crossed her arms.

"Considering she might have a concussion after that blow to the head," she told him. "It's rather understandable for her to not be fighting back."

The red light disappeared with the Meowth still in the ball.

Matt reached down and picked up the Pokeball, pumping his arm victoriously. He caught her!

"I did it!" he cheered. "I caught my first Pokemon!"

Sissy looked at him shaking her head side to side, still remembering the erect nipples of the Meowth.

"You're a pervert." she told him, slightly taking away some of his pride in his victory. Nonetheless, he now had two Pokemon to aid him on his journey to Bill's...


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

Otto came home drenched from the rain. He kicked off his dirty sneakers and pulled off his wet socks, laying them on top of his shoes by the door. In cargo pants and an old tee-shirt with the symbol of pi on it, he walked past his living room and up his stairs. After being gone all day at a meeting with some investors, checking his usual websites sounded appealing.

Now on the second floor, he smelt under his arm to see if he smelled bad. It had been a couple of days since his last shower, unable to take one due to being so busy. He pulled his head away disgusted No wonder why his investors wanted to cut the meeting shorter than they had originally scheduled. With his nose still burning from his own stink, he entered his computer room frowning.

"I should probably take a shower now," he told himself, "but it's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon."

He sat down at his computer and shook his mouse side to side. After the screen saver of a dancing amine chick had disappeared, he found that a program was up on the screen. But it wasn't just any program, it was _the_ program. The very same program he had created for the so-called Timensional Transferring Device.

Otto had been searching the web one day when he stumbled on a blueprint uploaded anonymously for dimensional travel. Everyone commented on the site claiming that it was obviously just a well created hoax. They backed up their argument by saying that it was impossible for anyone to build off of the blueprint since the materials cost a ridiculous amount and only a genius would be able to decipher how it was put together. Since Otto wasn't poor nor stupid, and loved a challenge, he decided to build the machine himself.

He had spent about a solid week of doing nothing but building and creating a program to run the machine, not honestly expecting it to work. His goal was to either prove conclusively that it was a phoney or that it was plausible. When Otto read 'Transformation Successful' he assumed there was a bug in the program. He started chuckling to himself with his fingers tapping away on his keyboard at practically the speed of light.

"Should have known there would be issues with a program like this." he laughed. His laughter faded away the more he tried to find the problem with the program. After a good five minutes of checking what was wrong, he found no problem. Otto scratched his head perplexed.

"Why the hell can't I find the problem?" he asked himself. Otto leaned his head on his hands, looking over at the machine. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw keys on his desk that he hadn't noticed before. He looked down at them, picking up the keys with a gameboy pendant holding them together. Otto quickly looked over at the machine again. There was a subtle, blue light shining above the scanner tray. He got up from his rolling chair, hurrying to the machine and hitting a button on the side. The scanner opened up with a gameboy inside. Otto froze for a moment, staring at it. It wasn't _just_ a gameboy. It was Matt's gameboy.

"Holy shit..." Otto murmured to himself in disbelief. "It really worked... But that means..."

Otto nearly dove for his computer, barely landing in his chair and almost falling over when he landed. He pulled up another program that he used frequently for biological science. He brought up Matt's file with his DNA coding that he had taken after for an experiment long ago. After doing so, he brought up the dimension transferring program, finding the subject that it claimed to have transported. He found the file, comparing the DNA that it registered with Matt's DNA.

It was a perfect match. Otto pushed the glasses on his nose back, trying to remain calm. With his fingers tabbing away, Otto knew he had to find out what had happened to his friend, and most importantly, how to get him back.

"Hang on, Matt." he said to himself as he worked. "I'll find you even if it takes all night."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

Matt and Sissy were still resting at the riverside where they had been, both looking at the Pokeball in Matt's hand as the sun was beginning to set. He wasn't sure what to do from there.

"Should I let her out to make sure she's still breathing?" Matt asked Sissy half jokingly. Sissy looked at the Pokeball, still angry at the fight the Meowth had put up.

"You're the trainer." she responded harshly. "It's your choice. Just make sure she's under control."

Matt turned the Pokeball around to it's backside, switching the free will meter from Green to the notch Red-Green. He wanted to make sure she didn't try to go berserk, but felt it was wrong to completely control her. Afterward, he stared at the ball not sure how to actually release her. He looked at Sissy with an awkward smirk.

"I'm sorry," he told her, "I'm still new to all of this..."

Sissy shook her head with a sigh, pointing at the side of ball.

"On each side of the ball are be release buttons." she explained with a lack of enthusiasm. "Or you could just throw the ball on the ground if you'd like."

Matt followed her instructions by squeezing the buttons on both sides. The top of the Pokeball popped open with a red light shooting out of it. The red light created the form of the Meowth, soon with the red silhouette changing into the Meowth itself.

The Meowth was sitting on her butt looking like she had just been on a roller coaster that had been doing loops. Her eyes focused after she shook her head quickly to snap out of her dizzy spell. She looked at Matt and Sissy confused, hopping up to her feet. Her breasts once again bounced as she moved, making Matt a little distracted. Sissy saw the look in his eye, turning her head and crossing her arms with elegance, walking towards the river.

"Pig..." she muttered silently to herself. The Meowth glared at Matt as if she were going to kill him, raising her hand in the air preparing to strike.

"No." Matt told her sternly. Her hand stopped in mid air with the Meowth blinking innocently at him. "Now sit."

She tried to fight it, but ended up plopping on her butt. Matt forced himself not to look at her chest. He sat down in front of her as she gave him an evil glare.

"Meow-mow-Meowth." she said upset. Standing near the riverside once again, Sissy looked over her shoulder at Matt while she listened to the river flow.

"She says she hates you." Sissy clarified. Matt sighed and lowered his head.

"It's fine." he told the Meowth. "I'm used to being hated. Regardless, I'm your trainer now."

The Meowth crossed her arms, turning her head to the side with her nose raised high with a stubborn 'humph.' Matt reached into his backpack with the Meowth opening one eye to see what he was up to. He pulled out another sandwich and unwrapped it, extending it to her.

"Here." he told her. "You look hungry."

She turned her head to face him once again, gazing at the sandwich being offered to her. The Meowth slowly grabbed it with both hands and blinked at it, then looked back at Matt confused.

"That's what you wanted, right?" he asked her. She nodded slowly with her tail curling up beside her, unsure if it was alright for her to have it. Matt thought her reaction was adorable. "Go ahead." he told her with a laugh. "It's yours."

The Meowth gave him a large smile with her mouth opening wide. She shoved the entire sandwich in her mouth at once, gnawing on it fiercely as if she had never eaten before. Matt watched amazed as she swallowed with tears of satisfaction forming in her eyes. She quickly moved forward, jumping for Matt. She clung to him with a huge hug, squeezing against him tightly. He could feel her boobs pressed against his chest, beginning to blush a little with embarrassment.

"Meo_wwwth_!" the Meowth purred as she hugged him immensely. Sissy watched as Matt was being hugged to death.

"She says she loves you." Sissy told him still standing by the river. Matt could hardly breathe as the Meowth started rubbing her face on Matt's neck.

"I like you too." Matt wheezed, "but can you please let go; I need air."

She did as she was told, looking at Matt with a happy grin. Her upper left canine tooth slightly stuck out past her lower lip, making her seem even more adorable. Her stomach roared with the Meowth's smile fading away as she held her stomach in pain. Matt reached into his backpack and more food. He pulled out another sandwich. The Meowth's face lit up again like a kid on Christmas morning. He unwrapped it and handed it to her. She snatched the sandwich and chowed down contently.

The entire time Sissy watched her eat, with her own stomach hurting from how empty it was. Matt looked over to Sissy, who quickly averted her eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?" he asked her. "Mom packed plenty of food."

Sissy couldn't look at him in fear she would cave in and say yes.

"No, thank you." she told him while the Meowth continued to stuff her face.

Four more sandwiches and a small pack of dry noodles later, The Meowth was still eating. Matt watched her down the food he had given her. She was like a black hole with kitty ears. With crumbs on the fur around her mouth, she munched with glee. She happily chewed as she sat in front of Matt, now wearing his crimson-red jacket to cover herself, still in her hot-red panties.

"At least her outfit sorta matches." Matt chuckled. Sissy, who was still over by the riverside away from them, sitting near the water's edge. She saw the reflection of herself in the water. Even though she looked fine, the pain of hunger was still raging inside of her. Matt was worried about her, sensing something was wrong. It was no use asking however. He already knew she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. All she seemed to do was stare at the water, which was odd to him.

With the topic of elements on his mind, The light bulb in his head turned on.

"Hey, Sissy?" he said. She raised her head away from the water, but didn't turn as she sat there.

"Yes?"

"There are types of Pokemon, right? I mean, some are fire types and some are grass. Stuff like that."

Sissy's response time delayed do to her hunger, but she pretended it wasn't there as she rested her hands in her lap.

"You are correct." she told him. "I myself am a-"

"Fire type, right?" Matt finished. Sissy nodded her head.

"Again," she said faintly, "you are correct."

Matt started thinking back to his game knowledge of Pokemon while the Meowth busily stuffed her face.

"What else can you do besides normal attacks?" he asked Sissy. She finally turned to face him, unable to comprehend what he meant.

"I don't understand." she told him honestly.

"You said you were a fire type," Matt told her, "so don't you know how to shoot fire and stuff like that?"

Sissy seemed a little embarrassed, turning away from him again.

"Actually," she said staring into the water, "I don't know how. I've never learned how to use UMP."

"U-M-P?" Matt repeated. "I've never heard of it."

"It stands for Unexplainable and Miraculous Power." She explained with her stomach cramping up. "It's the nature of power that allows Pokemon to use special attacks."

**In further explanation, UMP (Unexplainable and Miraculous Power) was discovered ages ago as people witnessed incredible feats done by Pokemon. Scientists still to this day try to understand how this is possible, like how a Growlthe can conjure flames or why Pikachu has the ability to harness electricity. Unable to find an explanation, some claim it to be the work of magic while others stand firmly on the foundation of science.**

Matt sighed, looking over to Meowth.

"I don't suppose _you_ heard something, did you?" he asked doubtfully. She looked at him still with crumbs on her face, shaking her head with her upper left tooth sticking out again as she smiled. Matt figured as much. He didn't even bother to ask Sissy. The Meowth scratched her neck while Matt thought to himself with his mind wandering.

"I wonder what I should name you." he said to her. She looked at him with her eyes closing from her cheeky grin.

"Me_rr_owth." she said confidently. It took a second for Sissy to translate. She felt a little light headed.

"She says she already has a name." Sissy told him. "It's Emily."

The Meowth shook her head again with her smile turning into a frown.

"Meow-_Murowth._" The Meowth said as if to clarify something.

"Excuse me," Sissy said correcting herself. "it's apparently Emie, not Emily."

Matt looked at the Meowth intrigued.

"Emie, huh?" He watched as she nodded her head with her smile returning. "I've never heard of anyone named Emie before."

Emie puffed out her chest proudly as she tended to do trying to impress them. Matt's jacket wasn't zipped up all the way, relieving a slight amount of cleavage.

"Meow-_MmmrRRowth_" she told him with a mixture of elegance and grace. Sissy finally turned to both of with a frown on her face. She looked doubtful.

"She said 'only a princess can have such a pretty name.'" Sissy translated.

Matt was beginning to wonder if he had done something to her brain after he hit her in the face with that Pokeball, but considering she had claimed this before she was hit, it was clear it wasn't because of the blow to the head. Being naïve sounded more realistic.

"You... really think you're a princess?" Matt asked her. Emie looked at him like he was doubting her wisdom. She nodded with her chest once again puffed out. Questions filled Matt's head again, but considering Sissy had to translate and that it was starting to get late, he decided other more important business needed to be addressed. They needed to figure out what they were going to do for the night as the sun was nearly disappearing on the horizon.

"I say we rest here for tonight." he told everyone. "I only have one sleeping bag so you'll have to go back into your Pokeballs."

Sissy turned her head to him and gave him an evil look.

"I'm not going in my ball." she told him. The Meowth shook her head at Matt.

"Meowth-meow." she said shaking her head.

"She says she's doesn't wanna go in her ball either." Sissy told him. "She says that Pokeballs aren't meant for humans."

Matt looked at Emie as if she had a mental disorder.

"But you're a-" Matt stopped himself. It wasn't worth getting into. "Never mind. I'm not sure how this is going to work them. The sleeping bag is large enough for two bodies to sleep in, but I'm not sure I could fit three of us in there."

Sissy's face flashed red behind her fur.

"I'm not going to sleep with you!" she hollered. Matt jumped from the boom of her voice.

"I didn't say you had to," he told her, "it's just-"

"I'll sleep on the ground." Sissy told him with an attitude. Matt didn't know what to tell her. He wasn't going to force her to sleep in the same sleeping bag as him or force her to go into her ball, but he didn't want her to sleep on the ground. However, he really didn't have much say in the matter. He had learned even with some of her free will restrained, she was going to do what she pleased one way or another.

Matt felt Emie hug him from behind. Clearly she had no objection with her sleeping in the same sleeping bag as him. Even if she was clearly not on the right mental state of mind, she was at least loving. And a nice huger. Perhaps he was bias due to the fact that she had a tendency to press her boobs against him when she did so.

Within an hours time, the sun had finally set. The moon was full with it's reflection shinning off of the water just as the sun had down before. Matt had unraveled the sleeping bag, placing it on an even spot on the grass. He kicked out his shoes and got inside with Emie joining him cheerfully. She snuggled up next to him shamelessly. Matt told himself to stay mature about the situation, but it's easier said than done when you can feel a woman's body up against your own.

Sissy was still sitting beside the riverside, making Matt worry about her. He had never been the most perceptive person, but it was obvious that something was wrong. Leaving home for the first time with someone she disliked had it's toll on her. He felt sorry for Sissy. Perhaps he could send her home and rely on Emie?

"_No,_" he thought to himself as he could hear Emie purring with her head on his shoulder. "_as much as it might pain her, I need Sissy right now. I'd be a fool to trust my life in the hands of a delusional Meowth alone._"

As adorable and sweet as she was towards him, he worried Emie was going to be more than he bargained for. Still, he felt sorry for what he was putting Sissy through. All he could do was hope she would learn to get along with him as time passed.

Matt felt Emie's leg cross over his body and stretching over one of her arms across his chest. As she cuddled up beside him innocently, he could feel her thigh right up against his privates. Every now and then she would adjust slightly, moving her leg and rub against him. Through some sheer miracle, he managed not to get an erection, but it was hard for him to fall asleep that night.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

Fourteen hours later of continuous working, Otto was still gathering information on what had happened to Matt. Only stopping twice, once to go to the bathroom and the other to make himself coffee, he had been putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Every now and then Otto would stop and repeat to himself how this all happened with each time becoming harder to believe.

According to his findings and data on the computer, Matt had somehow scanned his gameboy with his Pokemon game in it. According to the record on the dimensional transferring device's program, the game itself had triggered a binary code that gave the machine directions on where to send him. That would mean that somehow, some way, the Pokemon game had a coordinate programmed into it already.

Not only did Otto did find the coordinates of where his friend had been sent, but he also found information from the people that lived there. Using the dimensional transferring device to send his signal through, Otto had tapped into a satellite in space in the dimensional region to bounce off of and to get an eye view as well as documentations.

The satellite that he had hacked into was for a small military company (most likely mercenaries of some sort) with documentation of the world they lived in, status reports on missions they had completed, even ordinance that he been bought. With reports of eliminating dangerous Pokemon and digital recites for bulk on spray potions, it was apparent to Otto that the dimension Matt had been sent was literally the Pokemon universe. He had made a breakthrough in modern science.

As much as he wanted to research and gather more information, he still had to find out where his friend was. Using the precise location that Matt had been sent to, he scanned for the nearest phone lines, finding the closest one showed up on his computer. Otto opened the drawer of his desk, pulling out his headphone headset. He plugged it in his computer and began to call the phone. He waited on the edge of his chair as he listened to it ring.

The counter was now cleaned and the sink was spotless. Mom had been cleaning her entire morning, not having time to eat. She looked down a long list on a notepad she had magneticly stuck to the refrigerator with chores written in black and reminders written in red. There was so much to do with so little time to do it in. Even if she lived a humble life, she was reminded of her reputation as a town mom by most of the to-do list consisting of things to do for neighbors and close friends.

She found serenity and inner peace by drinking tea when things were hectic. If she could at least have a few minutes to herself in the morning then she would be more than capable to accomplish the mountain of tasks that she faced that day. She stood in the kitchen, gazing around her home and remembering what it used to be like.

Her son always ran around the house with Sissy, who was still a pup at the time and unable to turn into her anthropomorphic state as she did in later years. They playing with one another without a single care in the world. Things were so much simpler back then. Mom could almost hear the laughter outside as Sissy and her son playing pretend.

"Watch out Sissy!" he would tell her dramatically as he dove onto the grass. "Beedrills are attacking!"

Sissy would copy him, laying flat on her stomach and hiding her snout with her paws. She could imagine her son stand up, running across the lawn, then 'trip', doing a spin and landing on his back.

"Oh no, Sissy! They got me!" He close his eyes as Sissy would rush over to him, burring her nose in his neck and pawing at his chest. That would tickle him, making him laugh more than anything else would. Mom wished she could bottle that sound. Her son would get up from the ground with Sissy loyally by his side. She'd bark and wag her tail with joy seeing her Master alright.

"I'm okay now!" he would say jumping up and down with grass stains on his pants.

A tear rolled down Mom's face. She wiped it away, telling herself she couldn't change the past. Her son was dead. She just had to except that.

She raised her cup of tea to her lips.

The phone on her wall began to ring. Mom set her tea down onto the counter of the kitchen area, reaching for the phone on the wall. With the phone up to her ear, she could hear a faint hum on the other line.

"Hello?" she answered. Without any delay, there was a response on the other end.

"Hello, Ma'am," the voice said to her, "my name's Otto and this is going to sound crazy but-"

Mom remembered what Matt had explained to her.

"You're Matt's friend, aren't you?" she said with a sweet, pleased voice.

"You know Matt!?" Otto said ecstatic on the other end of the line. He quickly cleared his throat and regained composer. "Sorry, it's just...well, I didn't expect to get this lucky on finding a lead. May I ask how much you know about the situation."

"If you're referring to Matt coming to Pallet and how he got here," she told him, "I do. He told me the whole thing and talked about you and some other girl."

"Other girl?" Otto said aloud on the phone. "Oh, you must mean Rachel. I'm sorry to pry, but how exactly do you know Matt?"

"I guess you would say he sort of dropped in on us unexpected." she said humorously. Mom explained what had happened in full detail. She told him how Matt scared her and how he was almost chopped into pieces by her Growlthe. Some of the details she used confused Otto. He had played Pokemon before and there were some unusual descriptions that made him more than just a little in the dark. He would have asked her more, but again, he had to find his friend to make sure he was alright.

"That sounds fairly eventful." Otto said with a friendly chuckle. "I don't suppose you could put Matt on the line, could you?"

Mom frowned, changing the phone from one ear to the other.

"He already left." She told him. Otto thought he misheard her.

"He left?" he repeated to her, hoping that she would correct him. Unfortunately, his luck didn't prevail.

"That's correct," she told Otto as he put his hands on his head distressed. "he left to go look for a scientist to help him get back to your dimension. In fact, how are you able to speak to me? If you're truly from another dimension how is it possible for us to communicate like this?"

Otto looked at his Dimensional Transferring Device while it ran, humming as it sent out the signal to the mercenary satiate in her dimension, followed by connecting to her phone line.

"You wouldn't believe how many transfers I had to make on this line." he laughed. "I'm a bit of a scientist myself. I feel partially responsible for getting Matt in this mess and I feel it's my duty as a friend to get him out of it. Do you know of any way I could contact him?"

Mom remembered the phone she had given him.

"Actually," she said lighthearted, "I gave him a phone. I can give you his phone number if that would help you."

"More than you'll every know." Otto said happily, finally with his search of Matt almost to an end. Mom relayed the number to Otto.

"When you get a hold of him," Mom said, "I'd appreciate it if you told him to be wary and to let him know that I'm wishing him good luck."

"I'll be sure to do that." he told her confidently.

"And one more thing," Mom told him with Sissy on her mind, "Tell him to tell Sissy that I love her very much and that I haven't stopped thinking about her since she left."

"Um, alright..." Otto agreed, unsure of who this 'Sissy' person was.

"Goodbye." she told him with Otto doing the same. She hung up the phone with a sigh.

"I hope they're doing okay..." she said quietly to herself.

Emie was practically laying on Matt when he awoke to the noise of his phone ringing. He opened his eyes with Emie still snuggled up next to him, listening to a constant jingle coming from his backpack. He wiggled his way out of the sleeping bag with Emie slowly waking up when she felt a lack of another body next to hers. Matt impatiently dug through his pack to shut up the noise. Matt finally reached his phone, flipping it open and placing it to his ear.

"Hello?" he answered rubbing his eyes.

"Sound's like you're still breathing." he heard Otto's voice say from the other line. Matt nearly peed himself from the surprise.

"Otto!" he cried. Emie sat up from the sleeping bag with the jacket he had lent her unzipped, nearly all the way down after the constant moving she did during the night. She yawned, rubbing her eyes with both of her hands.

"Seems like you've got yourself into a bit of situation." Otto said to him on the other line. Matt could hardly believe it was him!

"You won't believe where I am or what I've been through." Matt said with the phone pressed against his ear. "But how the _hell_ are you calling me right now?"

"It's complicated." Otto told him vaguely. "I got the number from that woman you met when you arrived. She wanted to tell you she's wishing you luck and to be careful. Also, she said something about telling 'Sissy' she was thinking of her and loves her. With a name like Sissy it sounds like you found yourself some pussy, if you catch my drift." Otto snickered.

Matt glanced over his shoulder at Emie was playing with the zipper of the jacket, pulling it up and down with naïve bliss. Her cat ears twitched.

"I guess you could say that." he told him as he watched Emie.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be working on finding a way to get you home." Otto told him. "I've been up for over thirty-two hours and it looks like it's gonna be a bitch to figure this out."

"I heard a guy named Bill might be able to help," Matt explained, "assuming I can find him."

He could hear a humming noise from a machine on the other end of the phone.

"I'll see what I can do." Otto told him sounding tired. "From what I've gathered the world you're in isn't the child paradise that Pokemon games have led us to believe. Stay safe while you're doing whatever it is you need to do to find Bill. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get some rest; I feel like I'm going to pass out on my keyboard if I don't get to bed soon."

"Alright," Matt told him, "I will. Thanks for checking in on me. I can't imagine what you had to go through these past few hours to find me."

"You're my friend, Matt." Otto said on the other end of the line. "That's what friends do. Whether it's helping you cheer up- or whether it's figuring out how to get you home after you've to an entirely new universe- I'm here for you."

Matt smiled, hanging up the phone. The sound of a zipper going up and down ceased with Emie blinking curiously at Matt. She had accidentally unzipped it all the way with the jacket barely covering her chest properly.

"Meowth?" she said to him with her head tilted to the side. He couldn't help but smile at her. Even if she was a bit of a dimwit, she was a cute regardless.

"And good morning to you too." Matt told her jokingly. The sun in the morning sky was just as bright as it was the other day, once again casting the same sparkle on the river near them. The only thing that was different was that Sissy was gone. Matt looked around where they had stayed the night, not seeing a single sign of her. He looked at Emie who was scratching her ear.

"Do you know where Sissy is?" he asked her. Emie shook her head. He cursed to himself. Had she run off? Before he had time to start creating theories as to what had happened, he saw Sissy walking towards them in the distance on the riverside.

She approached them with her eyes barely open, dragging her feet. Sissy had gone off to look for food in the wild, but had no luck. She was hungry and had not slept that night. Her eyes were a blood-shot red from lack of sleep. Standing before him, she held her head high, acting as nothing was wrong. Her persona that she was fine was quickly decaying.

"Where were you?" Matt asked her. It burned when she blinked, holding back a yawn.

"I chose to take a walk this morning." she lied. Matt could see right through her bullshit. Should he call her out on it? No, it would only lead to more conflict between the two of them. That was the last thing they needed.

"Are you ready to leave?" he asked her. She gave a slight nod, nearly tripping when she lowered her head. There was no way she was fine.

_"Does she really think she can fool me?"_ he asked himself. Emie broke the tension by jumping on Matt's back, wrapping her arms and legs around him. Clearly she was ready for anything. His jacket on her was barely hanging on her arms and had slid down body. Even without looking he could tell her nipples were hard by how they poked his back.

So, after rolling up his sleeping bag, eating breakfast (with Sissy once again refusing to eat), and zipping up the jacket on Emie, they were on the road again.

The road to Viridian was completely free of both people as well as Pokemon. That is, the violent ones. Every once in a while Matt would spot a Pidgey flying out from the trees. They were much larger than a normal bird, being nearly a foot tall with each of it's wings being slightly longer than it's body height. For the most part they seemed peaceful to Matt. Or at least minded their own business.

Matt lead the trio with his hands on on his backpack straps and his eyes wandering everywhere, taking in the unbelievably beautiful land around them. Ever since they had left Pallet he was taken back in awe at the trees, the hills, and even the plants. Not to mention the nice whether.

Proving to be as carefree as ever, Emie was walking by his side humming a song of key. She was playing with the zipper of the jacket again, but stopped when she got her finger got caught by it. It made her jump in pain and put her finger in her mouth with her eyes tearing up.

Sissy was trailing slightly behind them a few paces. She was barely able to keep up with physical exhaustion and hunger working against her. Breathing for her was a burden and blinking felt like needles stabbing at her eyes. Even with sleep deprivation and starvation draining her, she pushed on without a single complaint or vocal expression of discomfort.

Trying to gain more of an understanding of Emie, and without bothering Sissy (it was clear to Matt that he shouldn't bother her with translating), Matt had created a 'game' for her to play. He explained it to Emie in a way that she would understand.

"I'm going to ask you a yes or no questions." he told her. "If the answer is yes you nod your head, if it's no you shake your head. Are you ready?"

She nodded her head with her upper left canine tooth protruding as it always did when she smiled wide enough. Matt knew he had to word his questions carefully in fear he'd either upset or confuse her if he didn't. The last thing he wanted was her to instantaneously snap out of her good mood of joy and cheer.

"Are you a human?" he asked her, well knowing the answer to such a ridiculous inquiry. Emie as well thought it was a rather ridiculous question, but not in the same perspective. To her, why would someone ask such an obvious question? Of course she was human!

She looked at Matt with a quick nod. This confirmed Matt's assumption. She really _did_ think she was human. It took Matt a moment to get over that fact, delaying his next question for a minute.

"Are you actually a princess?" he asked her, fearing to receive a similar answer as the last.

She nodded once again, puffing out her chest with her hands on her hips with pride. Matt wasn't sure if he wanted to continue this 'game' in fear he'd be subjected to more of her dillusions. They would only make him ask more questions he knew he'd be unable to obtain answers from. Nevertheless, he pushed forward in their yes and no game.

"Are you a _well known_ princess?" he asked her. Emie's upper canine disappeared as she frowned. She lowered her head and shook it side to side slowly. Her expression was so sad it almost made Matt feel sorry for her.

"Does anyone actually know you're a princess?" he asked her. As if coming from nowhere, her sadness turned into a seemingly unrelenting depression. Her head sunk even lower than before as they continued to walk. She raised her hand with only one finger up. It took some time for Matt to register what her signal meant.

"Oh," he said with a sudden stroke of understanding. "you mean only one person knows you're a princess."

With her head still hanging down as they walked side by side, Emie looked at him with a faint nod of her head. He refrained from asking any more questions simply to watch as Emie drug her bare feet on the road with her depressive state still not relenting in any way. Matt put a comforting hand on her shoulder with a tender smile. Emie looked up at him: her facial expression was a sad yet quaint at the same time.

"You have _two_ people who know you're a princess now." he told her with a smile. Emie's sadness lifted with her upper left canine reappearing as she smiled. Matt halted the moment she hugged him immensely.

If Sissy wasn't paying attention she would have bumped into them. Her eyes felt so heavy that she felt like they were weighted with sandbags. She looked at the two of them as Emie body pressed against his with her face nuzzled in his neck. Her fur made him feel warm.

"Are you this loving with everyone?" he asked as she purred. She moved her head away from him, smiling confidently at Matt. She shook her head 'no,' then proceeded to hug him even more. Matt not only felt warm on the outside as she hugged him, but on the inside.

"Is that a complement?" he asked her. He could feel her nod her head against his neck.

Completely shattering the moment, Sissy rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Are you two finished." she asked them. "I'd like to get to Viridian as soon as possible."

Matt saw her giving him an evil eye. He may have gotten Emie to like him, but getting Sissy to be fond of him was a whole other story. He knew she wasn't going to be won over by offering a sandwich. Ironically enough, all Sissy could think about was food. Not to mention sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed.

Putting more millage behind them, Matt and his Pokemon companions were almost to Viridian. They could tell by the signs telling them it was only a mile away. Everyone, especially Sissy, was happy about this. Matt would be one town closer to finding Bill. Emie would get to visit a place she had never seen before. Sissy would be happy to settle for a bite to eat and a nap.

Matt looked over at Emie, who was close by his side. Sissy was still tagging a few steps behind as she had been the entire day. Gravity felt like it was pushing on her harder than normal with her every now and then almost tripping over her own feet from fatigue. Matt could tell Sissy was in no condition for any sort of combat. Luckily, they hadn't ran into any more conflict since their encounter with the Rattata. It didn't take long for their luck to run out.

If it wasn't for Emie, Matt would have kept on walking forward. She put her arm against him with her ears perking up. Matt looked around not hearing or noticing anything out of the ordinary. Emie's ears twitched with the feeling of a subtle vibration shaking the ground. Then another. And another. This continued with each rumble of the earth growing louder.

Down the road coming up from the horizon was a large, gray beast stomping slowly towards their direction. It clearly saw them, as it walked on two feet, being at least seven feet tall with a giant body mass. It bared large front teeth and had the features of a rat including a thick tail at matted fur. Matt had played enough Pokemon to know what it was. A Raticate: the evolved version of Rattata. However, unlike the 'cute' version, this thing was a furiously horrifying, seven foot tall beast. It slowly stepped towards the trio.

Matt could see dried blood on it's face with it's yellow eyes pricing into his soul. Snot was crusted on the edges of it's nostrils with spit coming out of it's mouth after every exhale. Suddenly stopping, It erected it's hunched back and started making noises. Matt looked at Sissy, who now was by his other side as adrenaline pumped through her body.

"It's saying it wants revenge for what we did to it's friend." Sissy clarified.

"So much for a meaningless threat." Matt said to himself. "I guess we've got no choice to battle this thing."

"I'll fight it." Sissy told him, stumbling as she drew her bokuto. Matt finally couldn't take the lies anymore.

"Cut the bullshit." he told her. "In the condition you're in you can hardly handle standing up straight." Matt looked at Emie. "You think you can handle this big freak?" he asked her. With a hell-sure look in her eye, Emie nodded.

"She can't defeat something like that on her own." Sissy protested. "Let both of us fight it."

Matt looked at her unsure.

"I thought that was against the rules or something." he told her. "I thought you could only use one Pokemon at a time to fight."

The Raticate roared once again in the distance, as if taunting them to attack.

"That's only in a standard match against another trainer." She explained, quickly informing him on helpful information.

**In a nutshell, Sissy is informing him on the term "Point Counting" in battle. As already mentioned, the Pokeball has multiple notches on the will meter, allowing a trainer influence the Pokemon. Blue gives the Pokemon complete control with no influence from the trainer whatsoever. The notch between Green and Blue (G-B) allows the a slight influence that the Pokemon feels compelled, but not obligated, to follow through with. Green is neutral and recommended for most Pokemon trainers due to making them both work together equally with both of them doing the same amount of work. The notch between Green and Red (R-G) is a more stern setting, making the Pokemon follow in line with the trainers orders with little 'wiggle room' to tangent from their command. Finally, Red is a setting where the Pokemon literally has no control of itself whatsoever. It must be told to do everything: to walk, to stand, to sit, or to even use the bathroom. Some trainers consider this cruel while others say it's necessary at times to keep certain Pokemon in line.**

** Since a trainer has no rules outside of a regular match, they can use as many Pokemon as they want, however, the more they use the more strain they have on them to control each Pokemon depending on the settings of their Pokemon they use in combat. Each notch on the free will meter has a "point": Blue=0.0, G-B=0.3, G=0.5, G-R=0.7, R=1.0**

** It is said on average that a trainer can only handle up to 1 point total due to the mental strain of controlling Pokemon. For example, the average trainer can use Pokemon on both Green settings (0.5+0.5=1) or one set on G-R (0.7 points) with another Pokemon on G-B (0.3 points). Frankly, it doesn't matter as long as the Trainer doesn't exceed their Point Count limit (again, usually being only 1 point). Trainers who do have reported having uncontrollably painful migraines, physical respiratory problems do to mental strain, and fainting. The highest reported Point Count in combat for a trainer without repercussion has been 1.7. No one has ever been reported being able to reach 2 Points without fail.**

Sissy's explanation was much more brief with Matt hearing some strange narration from an unknown source afterward. Needless to say, it was a terrible time to be hearing voices.

"I suggest putting my will between blue and green and leaving Emie's between red and green." Sissy told him. The Raticate let out another loud yell, making all of their ears shatter. Matt needed to think fast as the seven foot beast began to charge down the road towards them. He watched it wobble on it's feet, clearly not as coordinated as the Rattata, probably because the Rattata was smaller and on all fours. Matt's mind raced as reached into each of his pants pockets for the Pokeballs in each of them. Holding Emie's on with the left hand and Sissy's on the right hand, Matt's brain had come up with a brilliant plan of action.

He switched Emie's will meter from Green-Red to Green-Blue by quickly flicking the meter with his thumb to the right. Following after, he switched Sissy's meter from Green to Green-Red. Sissy couldn't understand what he was doing.

"Please don't fight me, Sissy." he told me. "I don't have time to explain my plan, but I know this will work." He pointed his finger at the Raticate that was nearing them. "Now attack!"

Even with uncertainty, Sissy didn't fight his command. She did as she was told, rushing toward the Raticate with her bokuto held to her side with both hands.

"Now run around him!" Matt ordered with Emie by his side. Sissy did as she was told as Matt multitasked. He needed Emie to turn into her beast form, but if she thought she was human there would be a problem. Words spurted out of his mouth without giving himself much time to think about what he was saying.

"Emie," he said rushed, "I need you to use...your princess magic and turn into a Meowth in beast form!"

Sissy ran around the Raticate with it slowly turning around unable to catch up with her circling around him.

"Keep circling!" Matt yelled to Sissy. She did so, feeling light headed from lack of food and sleep. The adrenaline alone wasn't going to keep her on her feet for long. Matt's neck snapped to Emie, all of a sudden in shock to see her with his jacket off and her pulling down her panties.

He couldn't be distracted by whatever she was doing, focusing back on Sissy to make sure he didn't get side tracked from the combat. Out of the corner of his eye was a white flash. He quickly glanced at where Emie was, now seeing her in beast form.

She was only about two feet tall on all fours with a fair length. She pretty much looked like a small puma with a small scar on her forehead where a coin should have been. Emie looked up at Matt as if waiting for an order.

"Attack!" he told her.

"Meowth!" she chimed as she darted down the road towards the Raticate. Matt's plan was to have Sissy get the Raticate to face her while Emie would attack from behind. Due to Sissy's poor coordination due to her condition, however, his plan fell short.

Technically, it was Sissy who was the one to literally fall. She stumbled and fell on her knees from dizziness with the Raticate facing forward on the road as Emie charged. The Raticate lifted it's burly hand, slashing down on Sissy's back.

Sissy let out a scream of intense pain as her back was cut into. Her blood was flung into the air as the Raticate followed through with the swipe. Large droplets landed on the road like rain. At that moment Matt had two choices: either focus on telling Sissy to escape from the Raticate without telling Emie what to do or tell Emie where to attack and leave Sissy helpless.

"Sissy, get out of there!" Matt cried. Sissy tried to get up, only to fall down again. The Raticate raised it's arm to strike again.

"MERROOW!" Emie snarled, leaping for the Raticate's face. With a fatal swipe, she clawed it's face. The Raticate let out a booming growl as Emie landed on the ground in front of it.

"Emie, run under it's legs and bite at it's ankles!"

Even with her will set on Blue-Green, she followed orders perfectly. Like a weasel, she slipped through it's legs and sunk her teeth into the back of it's ankle. Matt dropped his backpack, and quickly reached inside for a Pokeball. Still unregistered with his DNA, Matt pricked his finger on the ball, proceeding to run straight into the heat of battle.

Sissy laid there on the ground nearly uncontentious, seeing a blurred image of Matt rushing for her. Using her own will, Emie improvised by switching ankle to ankle as she bit, making it impossible for the Raticate to stomp on her. She kept doing this as Matt picked up Sissy and put his arm under her for support.

As predicted, the Raticate raised it's arm at Matt and Sissy, even with Emie biting on his ankles. Matt threw the ball at the Raticate with it bouncing off of it's belly. The Raticate turned into a red silhouette and was sucked into the ball. Instead of assuming the battle was over, Matt reached down and grabbed Sissy under the knees with his other hand, now running with her in his arms as the Pokeball violently wobbled around. Emie watched the ball, backing up caustically as a the red light on the front of it started glowing even brighter with the ball nearly vibrating.

The Pokeball broke open with the ball breaking in half. The Raticate appeared once again, now angrier than ever. Emie leapt on it's back, digging her teeth into the back of it's neck.

"Keep him occupied!" Matt ordered as he set Sissy down beside his backpack, laying her on her side. Matt dug for a potion as Emie bravely fought against the Raticate by herself. The Raticate reached behind it, grabbing Emie with it's large paw-like hand.

Matt pulled out a potion as Emie was thrown on the side of the road with her landing on her back. With a painful thud, she laid there unable to move due to how hard she was slammed down. Sissy, who was half continuous, saw the potion in Matt's hand.

"Don't." she she slurred. "I don't need it."

"I'm not going to let you bleed to death so you can prove a point!" Matt yelled at her. He was about turn her over on her stomach so he could spray her back, but out of the corner of his eye saw the Raticate charging at full speed towards them, lusting for revenge and blood.

He dropped the spray potion, reaching into his pack again. He pulled out another unregistered Pokeball, pricking his thumb with it reading his DNA. He stood up, pulling his arm back with the Pokeball in hand. He chucked the Pokeball at the Raticate who was only twenty feet away before reaching them. It was sucked into the ball for a second time. Matt focused on the ball, knowing that this was his only chance on getting to Viridian alive.

**When a trainer catches a Pokemon under normal circumstances, it becomes a battle of the wills. The wild Pokemon caught in the ball fights back by trying to escape while the trainer tries to keep them inside using sheer will power with their DNA connection. When a trainer transfers it's DNA with a Pokeball or any other high technical Pokemon related device it literally becomes a part of him, connecting with their continuous and subconscious. It is said a trainer has a sixth sense with their Pokemon due to this.**

Matt was so focused on the ball he didn't has time to suspect a narration. Instead, he had his eyes locked onto the Pokeball as it wiggled around. He could feel unrest within his own mind as if something were trying to escape his brain. He strained, forcing the Raticate to stay inside as it wiggled even more. Matt was focusing so hard that he stopped breathing. Sweat ran down his face as they struggled with one another.

The wiggling stopped for a moment, then started again. The Raticate was slowly giving up. Matt could hardly stand, forced to kneel down with sweat running into his eyes. It burned, but he refused to let anything cause him to be distracted even if that meant blinking.

The Ball stopped.

He had caught the Raticate.

Matt gasped for air, panting on his hands and knees. Grabbing the Raticate's Ball, he stood up and put it in his pocket. He saw Emie in the distance sluggishly get up from the road and start to walk over to Matt. He grabbed the potion he had dropped and turned Sissy over on her back. The gash was deep with blood everywhere. He sprayed, praying the potion actually worked.

As if magically being healed, her wound slowly began to disappear as he continuously sprayed her wound. He used the whole bottle with the wound disappearing as if it had never existed in the first place. Sissy groaned with the pain gone, but still unable to move her exhausted body. She looked at Matt, seeing how angry he was.

"Don't lie to me," he told her, "you didn't sleep at all last night. I can see it by the dark circles around your eyes, even with your fur."

Sissy looked away from him as if ashamed.

"No," she admitted. "I didn't."

"And you starved yourself just because you were too proud to eat what _I_ gave you." he added upset. He angrily searched his pack, pulling out dried jerky in a large bag. Sissy slowly pushed her body up from the ground. She sat on the road with her body being held up with her hand while Matt held the bag of jerky out to her. She looked at it unsure.

"I-I don't need it... I'm fine."

Matt was dumbstruck. So much in fact he didn't realize Emie was standing beside them. He was so mad he felt his heart pounding out of his chest.

"I've met some arrogant and stubborn people in my life," he told her nearly shaking in pure rage. "but you are definitely by far the the worst out of all of those people combined. I offer you food, yet you deny it. I would have even let you use my sleeping back while _I_ slept on the grass, but you refused. I even risked my life to save you and yet you're still too good to take food from me."

She looked at him with her bottom lip trembling.

"Your too-good-for-your-help attitude didn't just almost kill you," Matt went on without holding back, "But you put both Emie and my life in danger because you could hardly stand straight, let along fight. I hope you're proud with yourself, but I'm not taking any more bullshit from you."

He grabbed her Pokeball that was resting beside his pack. He turned it around and switched the free will meter all the way to Red. Matt extended the jerky towards her.

"Now eat." he said sternly. In her exhausted condition and on such an extreme setting, she was in no position to fight against his will, taking the bag and opening it. She began to eat, chewing on the jerky and holding back tears. He let her eat in silence, standing up from the road and looking towards Emie. He froze.

Emie had returned to her anthropomorphic form, however, wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing. Not even her hot-red panties. She was facing him with her hands on her hips with her stance reveling all. Unsure why Matt's face had turned red, she cocked her head to one side.

"Emie..." Matt said said trying to hide how awkward he felt.

"Meowth?"

"Please go put on your clothes..."

She nodded her head with her upper left canine sticking out as she smiled.

Matt knew it was wrong to take advantage of the moment by watching her walk bare-assed to get her clothing, but couldn't help himself. Her tail swung back and forth as her hips did the same. She bent over to grab her panties with her legs spread, showing her privates.

Feeling guilty that he hadn't looked away, he redirected his focus on Sissy. By that time she had eaten the entire bag, shamelessly stuffing her face. With her Pokeball, he stood up with his fingers near the the side buttons.

"Since you're in no condition to walk," he told her, "you'll have to go into you ball."

Sissy looked him in the eyes, with tears rolling down her face. Like a child, she broke down and started crying with her lower lip trembling more than before.

"Please," she said crying, "don't put me in there."

Matt looked at her, unpersuaded by her tears, but was willing to hear her out.

"And why shouldn't I?"

"Please," she said with the tears flowing down her face. "I _can't_ go back in there."

"I asked a question." Matt barked back at her with his compassion running thin at the moment. "Tell me why you don't want to go back in. That's an order."

Afraid, Sissy stared at him helplessly.

"Because I'm afraid of going inside..." she told him hiding her face. She began to cry unable to hold back. She sniffled trying to hold back the tears, but couldn't do it. For the first time since he had met her, Sissy showed her weakness. Matt's natural instinct to be compassionate and comforting rushed back to him. He put her Pokeball in his pocket and put away his things.

"I won't put you back." he told her softly as he closed up his backpack. Sissy was still crying, trying her hardest to stop.

"But I can't walk." she cried. "I'm to exhausted; I can't do it."

Matt put his pack on his back, bending down to her. He picked her up with two hands, having her in his arms with one arm holding her back and the other holding her under the knees.

"It's only a mile more." he told her. "I'll carry you to Viridian."

Sissy looked over down the road to see her bokuto was still on the ground from when she had fell down. Matt looked over to Emie.

"Emie," he told her kindly, "can you please get Sissy's weapon."

Emie ran ahead down the road as Matt began walking towards Viridian. She picked up the bokuto and held it like Sissy did, playing with it.

"Be careful with that." Matt warned her. "Do you think you can carry that?"

Her canine tooth showed just as much as it always did when she smiled at him. Emie followed by his side as Matt carried Sissy. She looked up at him with her tears drying. There was silence as they traveled towards town. Wind blew in his face with a soft breeze.

"Thank you..." he heard Sissy meekly tell him. He glanced down at her.

"As a stubborn Growlthe once told me," he said to her with a smirk. "'Don't get used to it.'"

The rest of the way to town was uneventful.

Matt carried Sissy the rest of the way with her falling asleep in his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

Viridian was much larger than Matt expected it to be. Unlike the small town the game had depicted, it was more spacious and full of life. The trio received more looks than Matt particularly enjoyed. Considering he was still carrying Sissy, who was finally waking up with the noise of the town ringing in her eyes, and he had a half naked Meowth only wearing his jacket and red panties that revealed enough of her ass that made mothers cover their child's eyes as they passed, it was no wonder they stuck out like a sore thumb. Matt did his best to ignore them.

Sissy's condition was still not good even after using the potion on her back. She still had the scar on her nose and arm, with her kimono having rips and tears in it. Not only was Sissy in rough shape, but Emie even had some bruises and scrapes on her body, some of which were in areas that he admittedly shouldn't have been examining in the first place. The bounce in Emie's step showed that even with her injuries she was fine for the most part.

Then there was the Raticate who Matt honestly had no idea what to do with. It had taken some damage after their last battle before he managed to catch it using every bit of his will power he could muster. He had no intentions on letting it out of it's ball anytime soon in fear of what it might do to him or his other Pokemon, not to mention the people in town. Matt's Raticate issue was just going to have to go on his mental to do list.

Undoubtedly the first thing he needed to do was take his Pokemon to a Pokemon center, if they even existed. Mom had told him about trainer insurance, but didn't specify one whether or not it was for an actual hospital or some sort of Pokemon center like he seen in his game. Matt didn't have a clue where a clinic would be in the first place. Asking for directions sounded like the best plan of action.

A few kids were playing some sort of card game outside of a store on the main street. There were two boys, one with red hair and the other having a dirty blonde, both wearing casual clothes. There was also a girl with short, brown hair watching them. The red head wore a striped shirt with jeans that had a pant leg partially torn in half. The other boy wore a shirt with a cartoon-like Charmander shooting fire out of it's mouth and identical pants. The girl wore a pretty pink shirt and white skirt. In hindsight, Matt wasn't sure why he decided to ask them for directions.

Approaching them with Sissy still limply in his arms with her eyes half open, the kids looked up from the cards in their hands, shocked to see Matt. Emie stood beside Matt with the girl in awe of Matt and his Pokemon.

"You kids wouldn't know where I could heal my Pokemon, do you?" Matt regretted using the word 'heal,' fearing it sounded too childish. Considering he _was_ talking to children, they didn't think it was strange at all. The red head nodded, pointing down the end of the street at a large building with glass doors and a giant sign that read: Pokemon Center. Even a blind person couldn't miss it. Matt felt like an idiot, but did his best to play off the awkwardness.

"I guess I need to get my eyes checked." he chuckled embarrassed. The blonde haired kid with the cartoon-like Charmander on his shirt cleared his throat as if a nervous fan meeting a celebrity. Not once did he take his eyes off of Matt or his Pokemon.

"Are you _actually_ a Pokemon trainer?" he asked him. Matt shrugged with Sissy still in his arms.

"I'm a little new at it," Matt said truthfully, "but yeah, I suppose you could call me that."

The red head and the blonde looked at each other with grins nearly going to their ears with delighted expressions. They looked back at Matt, who wasn't sure why they were so overjoyed. But when he thought about it, he hadn't seen any other trainers at all since he had started on his journey. Was he not looking hard enough?

"That's so cool!" the red head shrilled holding his hands close to his chest with excitement. "I've never talked to a trainer before!"

"Yeah," the blonde boy said a little upset, "all those other dumb trainers don't even look at us! They treat us like we're _kids_!"

"Other Trainers?" Matt inquired with his head to the side. "Are there any in town?"

"Yeah," the blonde responded, "but not very many. Viridian doesn't get many trainers passing through. Most of them don't have there Pokemon outside of their Pokeballs like yours though either."

The girl shyly smiled at Matt and his Pokemon.

"Your Growlthe is really pretty." she told him meekly. Matt smiled at her as Sissy turned her exhausted head towards the little girl with a smile as well.

"Thank you very much." Sissy thanked her. All the children grasped in surprise.

"You can talk..." the girl said with her voice drifting to a shy silence. Reaching for her neck, Sissy grabbed her collar with her finger wrapped around it and tugging on it to show them. The kids once again gasped amazed.

"You have a Talker Collar!" the blonde boy said nearly bursting from excitement. "That's so cool! I've never seen one before!"

Sissy laughed lightly in her weak condition. It was the first time Matt had ever heard her laugh since they had set out. Or even smile for that matter. The girl looked concerned by her condition.

"You should get her to the Pokemon Center soon." she told him shyly. "She doesn't look very good."

"That sounds like very good advice." Matt told her the way most adults do when kids give obvious advice. "I better take her there now. Thank you for the directions."

He said goodbye with Emie waving to them chipper as ever. The kids said goodbye a little disappointed that Matt couldn't stay and talk with them. He was the first trainer nice enough to ask them something or to even notice them.

Emie started singing to herself in her own language as they headed in the direction of the Pokemon center. Matt continued to carry Sissy, who still felt flattered by the little girl calling her pretty. It made the pain she was in slightly more tolerable.

The inside of the Pokemon Center was awesome. There was a lounge area to the right of the entrance room with only about three people sitting on the large round about couch, watching the news on a giant flat screen television. Matt walked up to the front desk with the lady working there typing something on a computer.

The lady had hair dark hair with dyed orange bangs, wearing a white uniform with a Pokeball emblem patched on the front of it. She looked up, doing a double take when she saw Matt and his Pokemon. Even some of the people sitting in the lounge around turned their heads from the TV to see Matt walk in. It was definitely a sight to see.

"Welcome," she said quickly jumping up from her office chair. The lady looked at both Sissy and Emie, seeing their beat-up conditions. "It looks like your Pokemon are in some rough shape. They certainly look like they've been through a lot." she said prospectively. "I'd be more than glad to take care of them."

Matt awkwardly stood there holding Sissy.

"I'm sort of new to all of this." he said with a nervous laugh. The lady politely smiled back at him with a nostalgic feeling.

"That's completely understandable." she told his with a positive attitude. "Just put them in their Pokeballs and hand them over to me so I can put them in one of the healing machines."

At the same time, both Emie and Sissy looked at Matt nearly in panic. He sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

"Meowth!" Emie cried upset. Matt looked at Sissy for a translation, who she herself was nearly in a state of panic.

"I can't go in there." Sissy said beginning to get scared. Matt could feel her shaking in his arms.

"Please don't put me in there."

Matt calmly sighed, looking at the lady behind the desk.

"That might be a problem." He told her. "You see, my Growlthe isn't very fond of being in her Pokeball and my-" Matt caught himself before he said something upsetting in front of Emie. "-'friend' doesn't seem too keen on the idea either." Matt stopped, giving the woman a peculiar look. She returned with an understanding nod. It was as if she could read his mind, clearly have gone around the block more than once when it came to Pokemon.

"I see." she said still staying polite. She checked her computer, tabbing away as if looking for something. "Let me just check something." She looked up at Matt, still typing indefinitely. To say that she was a skilled with a keyboard was an understatement. "Since you're new to everything, do you know what a Daisy is?"

Matt felt like she was doubting his intelligence. The question came across as a little insulting.

"I know what a flower is." Matt told her cautiously as if it were a trick question. The lady got a laugh out of that.

"Well, yes, a daisy _is_ a flower," she told him, "but I'm referring to the machine."

The look alone on Matt's face answered her question.

"You see," she explained, still searching for something on her computer. "the machine that heals Pokemon was _named_ after the flower after being created by a florist and due to what it symbolizes: simplicity. It's used for Pokemon in their Pokeballs, healing them while inside. Since your Pokemon and-" She glanced at Emie by Matt's side, who was distracted by the Television with perked ears. "_friend_ can't be inside the balls, a Daisy Chamber would work as a subsistence. Instead over being in their balls, they themselves would be inside a machine that would heal them."

Finding what she was looking for, the lady was pleased.

"As it stands," she told him, "all the Daisy Chambers are free at them moment."

The lady walked around the desk, towards a door on the back wall.

"Follow me, please." she told them. Still carrying Sissy, Matt and Emie followed the lady into the back room.

The back room was filled with large machines with strange tray compartments. In the back of the room were four large chambers that were almost identical to the device that Otto had. The lady walked up to a mounted computer on the wall, typing in a command. Two of the four chambers opened with the lady looking over to Matt's Pokemon.

"Each of you need to undress and pick a chamber." she told them. Sissy looked at Matt with a worried look, then looking at the lady.

"I can hardly move my body, let alone undress." Sissy said unfavorably. Matt sighed, figuring that her sweet side was bound to disappear sooner or later. The lady looked at Matt as if he were the answer to the problem

"If you're unable to undress yourself why not have your trainer do it?" the lady asked innocently. Matt's face flushed red with Sissy's doing the same.

"I'm not having _him_ undress _me_!" she told her sternly. "I can hardly stand to be around this creep let alone stomach the fact of him seeing me naked."

The lady thought it was understandable for her to be opposed to having him undress her, but didn't expect her to be so cruel to her trainer, even as she was being carried by him. Even if she was surprised by her cold hearted statement, she remained professional about it.

"Wait a minute," Matt said, "couldn't she just turn into your beast form?"

The lady frowned.

"The Daisy Chamber only works for anthropomorphic organisms, in other words only in their human form." she told him. "It's either that or she would have to use the original Daisy machine in her Pokeball."

Sissy and Matt looked at each other still with red races. She turned her head an closed her eyes, trying to remain calm about the situation.

"I'll allow you to undress me if that's what must be done," she told him. "but you can't look at me! If I catch you peeking I swear I'll tear out your eyes!"

The lady who heard heard this was frightened by how serious Sissy sounded. Even Emie who was standing beside Matt was scared of what Sissy had told him. Matt looked at Sissy with a subtle nod.

"I promise I won't look at you." he told her truthfully. "Do you think you can stand so I can...you know."

"I'll try." she told him. Matt lowered her feet down as she painfully stood on her own, letting her go. Matt had been carrying her for almost two hours with his muscles relieved to have a break. Carefully placing his hands on the center of her kimono, he began to unravel the center piece that held it together. He averted his eyes, removing the center piece and moving his hands to her shoulders.

Sissy shuttered as he took off her torn kimono. She moved her arms out of it as he took it off. With her kimono and center piece off, he reached for her hips to remove her underwear. As you could imagine, his face grew even more red as he put his hands on her hips.

He didn't feel any panties.

"I don't have anything else." Sissy told him very uncomfortably as she blushed uncontrollably. Matt swallowed hard, frozen in panic with his hands still on her hips.

"Oh." was all he could say. He removed his hands from her sides, carefully putting one of her arms over him with the eye closest to her shut. He walked her over to one of the open machines, feeling something pressing against his side as they walked. He had gotten so used to Emie hugging him without a top that he could familiarize with what it was: It was the side of her breast. He could also feel her tail as it moved with her, accidentally rubbing against the back of his leg from time to time as they walked.

With closed eyes, he helped her into the machine. Finally with her inside, he turned around and opened them again. The lady closed the machine on Sissy and activated it. There was a strange fluid like noise on the other side. It worried Matt, who looked at the lady. She could see the fear on his face, returning his worried gaze with a comforting one.

"Don't worry." She told him. "She's fine. It's just the machine filling with a gel-like fluid that fills the Daisy Chamber. It's breathable and it won't interfere with her collar. Besides, most of those translator collars are water proof anyway."

Matt looked at the machine half expecting to hear Sissy panicking inside, but only heard the sound of the machine filling. Even if Matt was concerned, he trusted the lady's word.

He now looked at Emie, knowing she would have no trouble undressing. She knew exactly what to do, unzipping Matt's jacket and droping her panties to her ankles without any sign of hesitation. In addition, she set down Sissy's bokuto she had been carrying on the floor with her clothes She innocently smiled with Matt averting his eyes as she entered the other machine. It closed behind her with the lady starting the second machine. More noise could be heard from the machines as the second one ran. Matt looked at the lady as she moved away from the computer with a soft giggle.

"It looks like you have some interesting Pokemon." she told him. Matt nodded, lowering his head slightly.

"You're telling me." he laughed. "You wouldn't believe what I've been through these past few days. The Growlthe I had been given hates everything about me, and my Meowth-" Matt stopped shaking his head. "she thinks she's a human _and_ a princess."

The lady looked at Matt as if this were nothing new to her.

"I've had some weird hearings about trainers and their Pokemon." she told him. "There was a young woman a few weeks ago who had a Sandshrew that was obsessed with peanut butter and would fly into a rage if it was denied any."

Matt looked at the woman as if she were joking. The seriousness on her face said otherwise.

"After six years of working here," she told him, "I've practically seen and heard all there is out there."

Matt smiled at her.

"I can top _any_ story with mine." he laughed. She looked at him doubtfully.

"Try me." she said jokingly.

"It's a long one." Matt warned her. The lady checked something on the computer and looked back at him.

"Your Meowth is only going to take about twenty minutes to heal," she explained, "but your Growlthe is going to take about an hour and a half. Is that enough time to tell your story?"

Matt thought about it, shrugging.

"Hopefully I won't have to cut parts out," he told her, "but I think I can make it work."

The lady was surprised to hear that.

"You weren't kidding about it being a long one, were you?" she joked. Matt once again smirked.

"You have _no_ idea, Miss-"

"Amber." she told him with a smile. "Just call me Amber."

After asking one of the other staff members to watch the counter and getting some chairs for her and Matt, he began to tell his tale. She listened with perfect attention, grasping every detail the best she could. He explained to her about how he was walking in the rain to his friends house and about being from another dimension. Amber took what he told her pretty well, not seeming to doubt him in anyway. If anything, every time he told her about something that she should have doubted she only seemed to be even more rapt in his story. He did his best to pace his story, cutting the time it took him to explain to Mom in more than half.

Matt had gotten to the part about Sissy exploding with anger at him for the first time when he asked about her tail, when the machine Emie was in blinked with a green light on top. Matt paused his story as Amber got up from the chair she was sitting in to unlock the machine. The sound of draining liquid could be heard from her machine with the door shortly after opening. Emie sprung out with the machine as energetic as ever, completely naked like she had been. She hugged Matt with her body pressed against him.

"Meowth!" she said with a purr following afterword. She was slightly damp still from the machine, rubbing against Matt's side as he stood up from the chair. Amber laughed, amused by Emie.

"She seems to like you a lot." Amber told him.

"Would you believe me if I told you it only took a sandwich for her to like me?" Matt asked her half jokingly. No matter how many times Emie hugged him he still felt awkward about it, especially since she was naked.

"It would be probably the most easy thing to believe from you story so far." Amber told him honestly. "Don't get me wrong, I don't think you're lying. I can tell by the look in your eye and the tone in your voice that you're telling the truth. It's just a lot to take in."

Matt gently pushed moved Emie off of him, afraid to touch her too much. She frowned with her ears lowering.

She just wanted to hug him. Why didn't he want any of her hugs?

He could see the sorrow look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Emie," he told her taking a break from their conversation. "It's just hard for me to let you hug me without any clothes on."

Emie corked her head.

"Meowth?" she said confused. Why did it matter if she didn't have any clothes, she wondered. Matt could almost read her mind, trying to think of a way to understand her.

"Emie," he explained in a friendly tone, "it's just that I don't know if a princess should be naked when they hug somebody. It might send the wrong kind of message to the person your hugging."

Emie's left eye slightly closed more than her right with the most inquisitive and puzzled looks Matt had ever seen her give. She couldn't understand what he meant by 'giving the wrong message' to someone she hugged if she didn't have clothes. Matt wasn't even going to try to explain to her what 'sexual tension' meant.

"You need to put on clothes." Matt told her a little less kind. Emie frowned.

All she wanted was a hug...

She frowned and lowered her head. Matt felt bad that he had to be so stern, but he wasn't about to let her walk around the city stark naked. Matt looked around for her clothes, wondering where they had gone. In fact, Sissy's clothes were missing too. Amber walked over to what looked like a washing machine, but was slightly larger.

"Sorry," she told Matt, "I put them in the Refurbisher."

Confused, Matt watched as Amber pulled out Emie's underwear, his jacket, and Sissy's kimono with the center piece that wrapped around the stomach to give it form and to hold it together. They smelt of fabric softener and looked brand new. Sissy's kimono was whole again.

"Usually you'd have to go to the cleaning room to do this," Amber told him, handing over the clothes, "but since your Pokemon don't have anything else to wear, I thought I'd be nice and use the spare machine we have back here."

Matt couldn't believe it. They looked new as if they had never been worn before.

"This is incredible." he told her. "I didn't know machines like this existed."

"It's been around for years," she told him, "but it sounds like you don't have stuff like this in where you come from."

Matt shook his head, holding the fresh clothes.

"Not even close." he told her amazed. With only two hands to juggle things, Matt put the kimono and center piece over his shoulder so he could hand Emie his jacket and her panties. She looked at them as if upset. Emie shook her head with defiance. Unfortunately for her, Matt was in no mood to play games.

"Put on your clothes, Emie." he told her sternly. She crossed her arms with her breasts resting on top of them. Matt gave her an unpleasant look.

"I said put them on, now." he repeated. Emie huffed, refusing to listen. Matt wasn't sure how much more he could put up with.

"Emie, put on your clothes, NOW!"

Emie, even Amber who was watching this spectral, shuttered in fright from the boom of his voice. He forced them over to her as she took them with little choice. Matt had to take a deep breath to calm down. After all he been through in the past twenty four hours, Matt's nerves had been seriously tested. He regretfully looked at Amber.

"Sorry," he told her, "I've just been through a lot."

Emie started getting dressed quietly without a smile or even a hint of joy.

"I'd suggest getting a room to stay the night." she told him. "It might do you good to unwind a little. It sounds like you and your Pokemon could use some R and R."

"How much are the rooms?" Matt asked, not even sure how much money Mom had given him.

"That depends," she said. "do you have trainer insurance?"

Matt had almost forgotten about it.

"Yeah," he told her, reaching on the floor for his backpack. He opened it, taking out the tablet. While doing so, he saw the Pokeball with the Raticate inside. Not only had he forgotten about the trainer insurance, but it had also slipped his mind that he had caught another Pokemon. Amber took the electronic tablet from him, turning it on and checking it. Matt held the Raticate in the Pokeball as Amber checked his trainer insurance.

"I almost forgot," he told her, "I caught a Raticate. I should heal him to after what he went through." Matt could remember Emie biting his ankles and clawing at his face. Amber didn't seem to notice that he was even talking. She was too busy in awe, checking the information on the tablet. Matt wasn't sure if he should be worried or not by her look. "Is everything alright?" he asked her. She looked at him as if he were a completely different person.

"How on earth did you get _this_?" she told him. Matt was now _really_ starting to worry about what Amber was talking about. "I haven't seen a diamond membership. Ever."

"A don't understand." Matt told her truthfully still holding the Raticate in the Pokeball. "Is that a bad or a good thing?"

"Let's just say you can't buy something like this." she told him. "Where did you obtain this?"

"The woman I told you about gave it to me." he explained. Amber nearly choked on her own spit when he told her that.

"She _gave_ this to you?" she said dumbfounded. "Do you have any idea what a diamond membership is?"

Matt shook his head, feeling an unexplainable knot in his chest.

"Everything at a Pokemon center including medical service, rooms, and anything they else have is completely free. It's just like a VIP membership, except this one never expires."

Matt's face grew a smile as Amber's did the same.

"May I suggest one of the VIP rooms?" she said handing over the tablet. Matt could hardly believe his luck.

"I'd love a VIP room he told her." with his smile still on his face. The only person who wasn't either surprised or happy about it was Emie. She was still hurt by Matt yelling at her.

Amber took the Raticate from him, telling him to come back down in an hour to pick it up along with Sissy. Matt had left her kimono and her bokuto beside the machine she was in before receiving a room card at the front desk. Unable to remember the last time he had ever received anything even remotely close to something like this, Matt could hardly believe his luck.

With his things and Emie following by his side, they walked through part of the Pokemon Center to get to an elevator. Matt kept seeing directional signs that pointed into other directions of the Center. According to what he was reading and what he saw as they passed certain sections, it was much, _much_ more than just a place to heal yourself and Pokemon.

There was a tennis court, a day spa, a weight room, an arcade, and even a theater in the Center, and that wasn't even counting half of what there was. The two of them walked down a hall of the Pokemon Center, seeing a trainer and their Pokemon, a male Nidoran in it's beast form (which was fairly small to his surprise), walk past them. With the trainer also being a male, he took a second glace at Emie due to how little she was wearing.

"For a town that allegedly doesn't get many trainers this place sure is large." Matt said to himself.

Finally at the elevator, Matt hit the button and waited. Emie stood by his side looking down at the white stone-like floor. Matt at first didn't realize she was still upset by the fact that he had basically won some sort of lottery in a sense. What were the possibilities of something like this happening? He told himself to call Mom as soon as he could to thank her.

The elevator opened with Matt and Emie entering. Pushing the button to go to the forth floor, the doors closed with the elevator ascending with a light hum of the elevator in the background. Matt glanced over at Emie, seeing her still looking down. He frowned, knowing that she was going to probably stay mad at him for a while. Matt told himself to ignore it. Still, he felt bad about yelling at her like he had.

The elevator door opened with a ding. Matt stepped out with Emie lagging behind him. The number on the card read "**VIP ROOM 3**" in large, bold letters. It didn't take very long for Matt to find the VIP suite, sliding the card through the automated door lock. Emie followed inside behind him inside the suite with her head still down.

Matt dropped his pack by the door, looking all around the room in amazement. In the center of the suite was a brown leather couch that was in the shape of the couch downstairs with a white roll out carpet underneath it It faced a flat screen TV identical to the one downstairs as well. To the side of the main room of the suite was a kitchen area. There was a refrigerator along with one of the Fabricater machines from before. The room alone was larger than the apartment he shared with Rachel.

Wandering the suite, Matt checked all the rooms, being four in total that were all identical with full sized bathrooms attached to each one of them. The beds were insanely large with beautiful sheets with designs on them. There were nightstands in the room and clocks on the wall, but besides that they were fairly barren.

As he looked through all the rooms, Emie plopped down on the couch with her head still lowered. She hadn't made a single noise since Matt had yelled at her. Inside she was holding back how hurt she felt. Matt exited one of the suite rooms, noticing her sulking.

A tear fell on her leg as her lip began to tremble like Sissy's had early that day. Matt watched her sitting there doing her best to hold back her pain. Guilt flooded his senses, regretting being so stern with her. Even though he tired to justify his actions, he should have known that her emotions were much more fragile than Sissy's.

He took off his hat, holding it in his hands as he sat down next to her. He noticed his jacket that she was wearing to cover herself was fully zipped up. She wasn't even playing with the zipper like she had been ever since he lent it to her. Another tear fell on her leg with her sad face still lowered. Matt rubbed the bill of his hat with his thumbs, sitting beside her feeling guilty.

"I didn't mean to get mad at you." he told her. Emie rubbed her nose, not looking up. More tears flowed, wetting the fur on her face. She refused to look at him, not because she was necessarily upset, but because he had yelled at her. Matt couldn't make himself feel any better about the situation, not even with the fact that he had gotten a VIP suite for literally nothing.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you and I'm sorry." he told her. "It's just very uncomfortable for me when you give me a hug without any clothes on."

Emie looked up at him, not sure if that was supposed to make her feel better or not. If anything it made her feel even worse. He had yelled at her _and_ he didn't like her hugs? Nothing could be worse than it already was for Emie. Matt realized how hurtful that sounded.

"I don't mean that I don't like your hugs," he told her, "it's just that when you get close to me without clothes I get...a funny feeling."

Emie couldn't understand what he meant. Matt was determined to make things right, even if he had to admit how he felt.

"Emie," he told her softly, "You're very beautiful and when I see you without any clothes on I feel wrong to look at you."

Emie blinked at him as he put a hand on her knee. She could see Matt was struggling to say what he was telling her.

"I don't want to take advantage of the fact that you're comfortable with you body." he went on. "Emie, you have to understand that I'm a male and males get...well, excited when we see a naked woman. We get even more excited when we _feel_ a naked woman. I guess what I'm trying to say that I don't want to take advantage of you by letting you hug and expose yourself without clothes because, as a male, I'm tempted by things like that." He looked at her getting a little red in the face from shyness. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you."

Emie's gaze slightly narrowed, not in a negative way, rather in a enlightened and comforted manner. She nodded her head, understanding what he was trying to tell her. Matt smiled at her.

"You really are very loving and beautiful." he told her. "I would never want to take advantage of your kindness. I...I care about you too much to do that."

Emie's face got slightly red behind her tan fur as Matt sat beside her with his hand still on her knee. She put her hand on his hand and looked into his eyes. They stared at each other for a short while. Her bright, blue eyes practically glistened.

It felt as if Matt were no longer in control of his body. He leaned in towards her with Emie doing the same, kissing each other with a light peck on the lips. Matt felt no shame in what he had done, moving back with Emie still staring into his eyes, being a dark blue that reminded her of the ocean. Matt seconded guess his actions, looking at Emie with a small frown. All of a sudden he felt some sort of rush of fear in what he had done. His fear began to pilot him now.

"I think I should take a shower." he told her standing up. He didn't look back as he headed for the room he had claimed as his own. Emie watched him walk away as she sat alone on the couch. Matt felt his chest began to quake with his emotions going in all different directions.

Entering his room, he took a sharp turn into the bathroom section. He closed the door behind him and looked at the large mirror that hung over the sink. He shook his head, half believing what he had just done. How could he let his instincts get the better of him, let alone when he was telling her he _didn't_ want to take advantage of her? He unbuttoned his jeans, pulling them off along with his boxers. Following, he pulled off his white shirt, bundling it in a ball and throwing it against the wall.

"How could you be so damn stupid, Matt." he muttered to himself. He entered the walk in shower and closed the door behind him, yanking on the handle to turn on the water. A burst of cold then shortly afterward hot water shot down on him. He let the water run down his back as he leaned against the wall of the shower with his head under the nozzle.

"Dammit all..." he murmured silently to himself. "I do so well controlling myself and tell her I don't want to take advantage of her, and what do I do? I kiss her."

He let out a frustrated sigh with his mind still going in all directions. Was what he had done really so wrong? All he did was kiss her. It wasn't that big of a deal, right? Matt shook his head with water flinging off the tips of his hair. He didn't know what to think. She didn't know any better than to kiss him back. But dammit, why did it feel so nice? Water got in Matt's face as he looked up at the water. He rubbed his eyes free, looking to the side of the shower.

Even with the glass slightly fogging, he saw Emie's shape on the other side of the bathroom.

The size of her shape grew as she stepped closer to the shower. She opened the shower door with the water still running. She stood there, still wearing clothes, gazing at Matt with a peculiar look in her eye. Matt was so stunned that he didn't even bother to cover himself with an unfamiliar emotion rushing over him. Emie looked at his naked body.

Matt kept in shape from how much physical discipline he went through in his life, whether it be from walking everywhere to get to places or getting into fist fights with people in his youth. His arms were strong and proved so when he carried Sissy, showing definition in them just like his legs and calves. With pectoral muscles as well as having a tone butt, he had a fairly ideal body with Emie thinking no differently.

He watched Emie keep eye contact with him, reaching for the zipper of the jacket. She grabbed the metal zipper tag, pulling it down at a slow pace as Matt simply watched. He didn't stop her, only watching as she completed unzipping it. She let the jacket drop on the floor, exposing her chest. Matt watched as she reached for her panties, pulling them down at a pace just as slow. Not for a single second did they break eye contact.

With her panties now at her ankles, she stepped out of them and entered the shower, closing the door behind her. Water hit her as she walked towards Matt with water soaking into her fur and running off her tail as she approached him. The two of them stood there facing each other as the water continued to hit them. Emie leaned her head towards Matt, kissing him once again.

They continued to kiss with their lips now mimicking each other, very slowly motioning against each other. Emie's eyes were half lidded with Matt's eyes open only slightly wider, moving his hand to her side. She put a hand on his chest as they kissed, feeling the warmth of the shower. Matt couldn't will himself to move his hand down her body. Fear was starting to come over him again. Emie could see it in his eyes, still with their lips together and her hand on his chest.

She put her free hand on his with confidence. The two of them slowly moved it down her body as if working together. Matt felt her backside with the palm of his right hand pressed against her butt. Her wet fur brought an indescribable comfort to him. Still with their lips together, he put his left hand on her lower back, still with his right hand on her butt. He lightly kneaded her behind.

Emie moved closer to him with her body pressed against his now. She moved her head back from him, still looking into his eyes. Matt looked down at her breasts with erect nipples protruding from her soaked fur. He moved both of his hands up her body and stopped at her upper back. Hunching his back and lowering his head, he placed his mouth on her breast and gently biton her nipple.

She let out a subtle groan of pleasure as he aroused her, toying her nipple with his tongue. Water got in her mouth as Emie started to pant. Matt grabbed each boob with his hands as he switched nipples to toy with, biting down on her other breast. Emie's mouth hung open as he groped her chest, every now and then pinching the nipple he wasn't biting. After a while of this, he moved one of his hands down the front of her body, slowly beginning to toy with her privates

He raised his head from her chest, kissing Emie again with his hands now on her hips. Matt felt a tingling sensation as Emie carefully grabbed his balls with her fingers rubbing against them. The sensitivity increased when she moved her hand to his shaft, touching the head of his penis. She began to stoke back and forth with Matt taking deeper breathes from the physical pleasure.

It wasn't long after that when she lowered and got on her knees. Matt watched her as she wrapped her lips around him. A grunt slipped out of his mouth as he felt her soft, yet faintly rough, tongue motion against him. She motioned back and forth as she sucked with her tongue now and then circling around the head of his cock.

He closed his eyes, feeling every movement of her tongue and lips as she pleasured him. Her tail wrapped around her with her ear twitching from the water hitting them. Emie looked up at him, seeing that he was enjoying himself. She could feel herself getting sexually excited with her privates becoming wet.

Matt opened his eyes as she came back up, embracing him with her arms wrapped around him and their bodies together. He moved his hand down to her privates, motioning his finger across the lips of her vagina once again. He felt her shutter from the sensitivity, hearing her let out a moan near his ear. It was hard to tell if it was the water from the shower that made it wet down there or if it was her alone. Either way, she was ready for more.

Taking his hands and placing them under her arms made her look him in the eyes again. He motioned her to backpedal until her back was up against the glass of the shower. Excitement filled her body as he moved his hands down to under her butt, gripping the backs of the upper part of her thighs. With his physical strength, he lifted her legs up with her back pressed against the glass.

Putting his penis inside of her without the help of his hands proved to be a bit of challenge. Emie had to finally help him by guiding it in her while she was pressed up against the glass. He pushed inside her with the tight feeling of her vaginal canal making his body tingle. With her feet off the ground, Emie let out a soft, adorable groan of sexual pleasure.

The thrusts were rhythmic and controlled, with each push inside her just as powerful as the last. Every time he would go back inside her she let out a pant. The force of Matt's thrusting wasn't enough to hurt, but enough so that she was unable to hardly look straight.

Emie was lulled by the movements with her eyes unfocused and barely open. Matt started to pound into her faster with her tail that hung below her spasming every other thrust. Her ears couldn't stop twitching either. Emie was loosing control of what he body, enjoying every second of Matt ramming her against the glass shower wall.

Feeling himself getting closer, Matt kept on, refusing to stop. Emie's panting became louder, soon turning into vocal noises. At first they were faint and could hardly be heard, but the more excited she got more they could be heard. Soon enough, she was making loud sex noises that only made Matt even hornier than he already was. He started going faster.

A holler from Emie was let out at the top of her lungs with her mouth wide open and her eyes clenched shut. Her legs tightened around Matt with the inside of her vagina also tightening. Matt kept going as she began to cum continuously. Each thrust he made now was followed by a loud, uncontrollable noise from Emie as cum began to drain out of her.

Unable to take any more, Matt finally came as well with his teeth clenched with his lip being bitten down on. Semen shot into her as she once again started to pant. Matt finally started to slow down, halting with the two of them panting now.

A mixture of cum and shower water dripped down onto the floor of the shower, going down the drain in strains of globs. Matt still had his penis inside of her as they looked at each other once again. Emie had tears in her eyes, kissing Matt again.

They washed themselves off, with Matt applying shampoo and body soap to Emie's fur. He washed her lovingly with her shyly smiling at him. He'd mess with her hair, making her smile and giggle when he playfully bit her ear or played with her tail. Emie would lick the side of his face, making him laugh from the tickle. The two of them washed the soap off themselves and turned off the water. Matt even helped dry her off.

After drying his head and body with one of the towels, he began to dry her down as well. He motioned up and down her leg as she felt her body tingle from his touch. Of course, he put the towel around her and dried her butt. While doing so he teased her by give Emie a squeeze. She looked at him with a smirk, licking his face again as he did the same to her breasts. They didn't say a single word the entire time. Nothing needed to be said.

They exited the bathroom, both still naked. Emie stretched, walking over to the bed and laid down on her stomach. Matt had emptied the pockets of his pants, carrying his clothes out to the Refurbisher machine and tossing them inside. It took him a few minutes to figure out how it worked, finally pushing the right buttons. The machine started up with Matt walking back to his room.

He entered, seeing Emie still lying on the bed on her stomach. Matt watched her tail move to the side with her ass unintentionally up slightly. She flipped over on her back, still laying on the bed with her eyes closed. She had a huge, satisfied smile on her face with her upper left tooth sticking out again as it always did when she smiled wide enough. Matt walked over to the bed with mischievous look in his eye.

Emie opened her eyes when she felt someone get on the bed with her. She saw him give her a smug smirk, moving himself closer to her. He rested his head on her stomach, kissing her navel. She blushed as he continued to kiss her, but with his kisses lowering down her body. Eventually, his face was between her legs. He looked up at her, slowly extending his tongue. Licking the lips of her vagina, she tightened her mouth and clenched her eyes.

Matt placed his fingers on her privates, lightly rubbing back and forth as she laid there on the bed breathing heavier. He slid his finger inside of her, amazed how wet she still was. His fingers moved towards her clitoris, with the tips of them barely grazing against it. Emie at that point was gripping the bedsheets with her eyes clenched closed even tighter than they had been before. Matt moved his face in between her legs again.

The feeling of his tongue going inside her was purely euphoric, having her gasp as his mouth was pressed against her crotch. Deciding it was now time for his tongue to take place of where his fingers had been, he licked her clitoris, flicking it up and down. Emie's eye's were watering up from physical joy as well as the emotional fact that Matt was engaged in sexual activities with her. He removed his mouth and rubbed the insides of her thighs with his hands.

He got on the bed with her, laying beside her with a smile. Matt kissed her on the forehead with her shyly kissing him back. Rolling from his side and onto his back, Matt looked up at the ceiling. He felt no regret, no remorse, and no shame. It felt right to him and that was all that mattered. And by the way Emie moved on top of him, it felt right to her as well. She sat on his stomach, rubbing her hands against his chest as they looked into each others eyes again.

With Matt getting an erection again, Emie felt it rubbing against he ass. She turned around and looked at it, then back to him cheerfully. She moved her body back and lifted up her hips, reaching for it. She slid it inside her, sitting down on it with a jolt of sexual satisfaction from both of them. With her knees on the bed, she pumped her hips up and down, sliding it in and out of her.

Laying there limply was all Matt could do. It felt too good to move, allowing Emie to keep doing what she was doing. Pumping soon turned into more of a bounce. Then the bounce turned into a more powerful collision between the two of them. Their bodies hit together with Emie's ears and tail twitching again. She couldn't help but to start moaning loudly. Matt was trying not to moan himself with one sometimes slipping out from him.

Nearly at the same time, both of them came. Emie's cum ran down onto Matt along with his own. Emie opened her mouth as if she were yelling, but nothing came out. Only her mouth trembled with her eyes watering. Matt tensed his face, holding his breath unintentionally as the two of them finished. Both of them now breathed heavily with Emie limply laid down on top of him with his dick still in her.

They didn't move for a long time as she laid on top of him. Matt ran his fingers through her short hair, rubbing behind her ear. She opened her eyes and looked into his. Kissing for the last time, they held it for a long time. When they finished kissing, Matt rubbed his hand on the side of her face, feeling her fur that was still slightly damp from the shower.

"You're _my_ princess." he told her with his hand on he cheek. She laid her head on his chest once again with tears of joy in her eyes. Matt laid there with her still on top of him, glancing at the clock on the wall in his room. Almost an hour had passed since they left for the suite.

"Let's go get Sissy and Raticate." he told her. She looked at him with a smile as he stroked the side of her cheek. She leaned in and licked the side of his face playfully, making him laugh once more.


	10. Chapter 10 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 10**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Kane had been reading for a while now, being nearly one in the afternoon. After reading about Matt and Emie making love, Clara was sitting with her legs crossed, holding the tip of her tail. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little aroused by what she had been heard. Kane was sitting with his legs crossed as well, for...various reasons, of course.

"That was sexy." Clara giggled. Kane looked up at her with his face sightly turning a shade redder from her comment. He coughed, trying to keep a proper composure.

"I see you're liking the story so far." he told her in an attempt to stray from the topic of sex. Clara nodded with a bright smile.

"It's really good!" she told him with emphasis. "Although, I don't like all of the characters..."

Kane paused, looking at the disappointed look in her eye.

"Which characters don't you like?" He asked her. She awkwardly tilted her head to the side and looked over at the bookshelf in the office.

"It's just...well...I really don't like Sissy..."

Kane raised and eyebrow, curious to know her reasoning behind her feeling.

"And why is that?" He asked her prospectively. Clara was acting as if she were embarrassed to speak up about it. "You're entitled to your own opinion, Clara. Don't assume I'll be mad that you don't like one of the characters."

Clara bit her bottom lip as if she were about to say something she would later regret.

"It's just that Sissy treats Matt like crap." she pointed out. Kane looked blankly back at her.

"Yes," he told her as if it were nothing, "I suppose she does."

"But why?" Clara asked with a frown. "He's treated her nice and gone out of his way to make sure she's okay, but she still acts as if he's below her."

Kane thought about it, nodding after a while.

"I see what you mean." he added. "but perhaps that's just how it's meant to be."

Clara seemed like she was taking this whole Sissy-doesn't-like-Matt issue a little to seriously.

"But it's wrong!" Clara blurted out. "How can she be so mean to him?!"

Kane sighed, beginning to close the book.

"Perhaps we should take a break." He told her. "You seems to be a lot for you to handle."

"No-no!" Clara said almost panicking. "Please keep reading!"

Kane looked at her unsure. If anything Clara looked like she was going to cry if he didn't continue reading. With another sigh, Kane reopened the book all the way.

"I'll keep reading as long as you can handle yourself." Kane told her almost in a joking manner. Clara nodded, completely understanding. Kane scratched his head. "Now, where was I?"

Finding the page he had left off at, he began to read once again.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

Darrell and Doug entered the Pokemon center with casual glances around the lobby and recreation area. Both perfectly disguised as a loving couple, Darrell wore a dark pinstriped suit accompanied by a blue tie around his neck. His hair was slicked back with nearly an entire jar of hair jell. His dark shoes were so polished that they reflected the light in the Pokemon center. Over his shoulder he carried a large duffel bag with the things they would be needing. To the normal eye, he was a respectable thirty year old man with his beautiful wife. His wife, of course, was Doug.

In similarly dark attire, Doug wore a concealing dress that went up to his neck with a small amount of skin showing in the back. As well as wearing the dark dress he wore high heels that clacked as he walked with black stockings covering his legs. With his naturally long blonde hair, makeup galore, and eye liner, Doug was possibly the most convincing woman anyone had ever seen. Doug wasn't very fond of dressing up as a woman, beginning to protest as they strolled innocently through the center.

"Why do _I_ always have to be the girl?" Doug asked Darrell disappointed.

"You have a more feminine face than I do." Darrell told him.

"I thought we were going to use the repairmen customs." Doug added.

Darrell glanced over at Doug with a frown.

"I told you it wouldn't have worked." Darrell explained with his hands in his suit pockets. "Besides, we have this act down flat."

"But why can't I just be a friend of yours?" Doug complained. "Why do I have to be your wife?"

"Because nobody would suspect a husband and wife taking pictures to be stealing Pokemon." He murmured back to him. "If we do this job right you won't have to where that dress for a long time."

Doug sighed with his high heels still clacking.

"I hope not." he told him in discomfort, "these shoes are killing me."

Darrell quickly glanced around, stopping for a moment before heading towards the front desk.

"Let's go through it one more time." he whispered to Doug. "We're here looking for a young man named named Jimmy to award him with the greatest trainer of the year award. Then, after that we'll have him pose for a picture, and when that happens-"

"We blind him with the light of the camera and bolt off with his Pokemon." Doug finished less than thrilled. Darrell wasn't sure how to respond to his friends hum-drum attitude about his well crafted plan. He adjusted his shoulder with the duffel bag strap still resting on it.

"What's your problem?" he asked gruffly. Doug crossed his arms and tossed his head to the side. His hair, which went down to about his upper back, flew to the side with him.

"Why is it that you want to get back into Team Rocket so badly?" Doug asked irritated.

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Darrell came back.

"A good one." Doug responded harshly. "Ever since they kicked us out you've been die hard about getting back in again. What's the point? We'll just be doing more grunt work that we hate."

Darrell nearly exploded.

"First of all, _you're_ the reason we got kicked out! Second, the only reason we got stuck with grunt work is because I'm stuck with an idiot friend who can't handle anything more! It's not my fault you always mess up!"

The woman at the counter watched them bickering like the married couple they appeared to be. After making a bit of a scene, Doug and Darrell noticed her watching them argue. They looked at each other nervously, trying to play off what they had started.

"I said a three inch lenses!" Darrell hollered. Doug kept 'her' arms crossed and huffed.

They headed up to the counter with phoney smiles. Darrell cleared his throat with the lady at the counter giving a warm smile in return.

"How may I help you?" she asked them friendlily.

"Good day," Darrell told her was a classy bow of his head, extending his free arm that wasn't weighted by the duffel back to the side. "My name is Jeremiah Harold McGuffin and this is my wife Samantha."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Doug said to her, flawlessly sounding like a woman.

"You see," Darrell explained to the lady at the front desk, "we're looking for a young man named Jimmy Ferris to give him an award for the McGuffin trainer of the year award."

The lady at the desk seemed doubtful.

"I've never heard of the McGuffin trainer of the year award..." she told them honestly. Darrell pulled his head back and and out a jolly laugh.

"Of course you haven't," he told her. "It's only for the greatest of trainers! It's such a high honor to receive this award that nobody even _knows_ about it!" Darrell dramatically looked cautiously over his shoulders as if someone were listening. "I hope I can trust you with such valuable information..."

The lady at the counter, totally buying his lie, nodded her head.

"I won't tell a soul." she told him with a hushed tone. Darrell erected his back with a large, white-toothed grin.

"Excellent!" he proclaimed. "I don't suppose I could meet him before we take pictures and give him his award. I've been dying to see Jimmy in person."

The lady began to type something on the computer, looking up Jimmy's room.

"He's located on the fourth floor in the 1st VIP room." she told him, reaching her phone. "Shall I dial him to inform him that he has a visitor.

"That would be lovely." Darrell told her taking off the duffel bag. He shoved it over to Doug.

"Here, Samantha," he told Doug, "would you be a dear and hold this while I meet our award winner? Thanks a million."

Doug took the bag as Darrell headed down the hall to the right towards the elevators. Irritated all the more, Doug stood there with the duffel bag in hand with a sigh.

The elevator downstairs opened with Emie and Matt exiting. In his hand was an envelope that he had found in the front of his pack, discovering it was the money Mom had given him. He had already counted it with the notes of tender being a total of 20,000. He had no idea how much that actually was considering the smallest bill he had was a 100.

"Hold the elevator, please!" cried a man in a pinstriped suit. Matt quickly put his hand between the elevator door to stop it. The suited man thanked him as he entered. Matt and Emie watched the elevator doors close behind him. During that time, Matt had lost his train of thought

"What was I saying early?" He asked aloud. Emie motioned her hands at him, raising fingers one at a time. She was imitating counting. "Oh, that's right! I was talking about how much money this really is. Thank you, Emie."

"Meowth!" she responded cheerfully with her classic tooth protruding smile. Matt hit the envelope on the palm on his hand.

"I have no idea how much this is worth in dollars or what to even call this currency." He said aloud as they walked down the hall towards the front desk. Passing by a soda machine, Matt saw one of the large buttons saying it cost 100 of the currency. Starting to piece things together in his mind, Matt came to the conclusion that since a soda usually cost a dollar that 100 whatchamacallits was the equivalent of a single dollar. If he did the math right in his head, he had about 200 hundred dollars.

"I guess that isn't too bad." he told himself. "but I doubt it's going to get us all the way to Bill's with that little, considering we still had a ways to go."

He put the envelope of money in his front pocket.

Emie made a "hmm" noise and nodded her head as if she actually fully understood what he was talking about. Even if she didn't Matt still thought it was kind of her to sympathize with him. He rustled her hair with her giggling. In return, she licked the side of his face playfully.

"You dork." he chuckled, wiping his face off.

Matt approached the front desk with a different woman from before sitting there.

"Could you inform Amber that Matt's here to pick up his Growlithe?" He asked her. She smiled, standing up from the desk.

"I'll let her know right now." he told him. She made haste heading into the back room. The two of them waited, there minding their own business.

"Excuse me?" Matt hear a woman's voice. He turned his head, seeing what had to be one of the most incredible women he had ever seen.

"Yes?" Matt asked feeling a little warm around the collar. Doug's discus was definitely working well for him.

"May I ask what on earth your Meowth is wearing?" Doug asked him rather horrified. "I can hardly say only wearing panties and a jacket is in style these days."

Matt looked at Emie who in return looked back at Matt with a frown. What was wrong with what she was wearing, she wondered. Matt looked back at the beautiful woman, who was actually a man, with an awkward laugh.

"Oh," he said embarrassed. "you mean that. It's a rather long story, but in short my Meowth doesn't really have clothes other than that to wear."

"As much as I enjoy seeing a half undressed woman." Doug said with voice still sounding impeccably feminine, "I can't say it's really decent for her to be wandering around in her underwear."

Matt was a little shocked to hear Doug's comment. Since he appeared to be a woman, Matt was a little amazed how open 'she' was about her sexual preference. In respect, he acted like he wasn't surprised by her staring at Emie's legs.

"I haven't really had time to buy her anything to wear." Matt told him honestly, still believing Doug to be a woman.

"You know," Doug said putting his finger to his chin, "I think I might have something for her."

Bending over and opening the duffel bag, Doug began to search for something while Matt and Emie watched silently.

The door behind the desk opened with Sissy exiting along with Amber. Before closing the door, Amber stuck her head in the doorway.

"Thanks Hillary," she told her, "I'll take over out front."

She closed the door, still with Doug digging through the bag. Sissy looked as if nothing had happened to her. That included having her same hate filled look towards Matt. Amber walked over to Matt and handed him the Raticate's Pokeball.

"It looks like your Pokemon are as good as new." she told him sincerely.

"Thank you so much," Matt told Amber relieved, "I was a little worried."

Sissy rolled her eyes at him as if he were being sarcastic.

"Of course you were." she spat harshly. Matt opened his mouth to rebuttal, but didn't have time say anything as Doug rose from the duffel bag. Sissy saw what she believed to be a woman holding a pair of black shorts.

"Here you go," Doug said to Matt handing over the shorts. "that might be a little more tasteful than just underwear."

Matt handed the shorts to Emie who in return looked at them funny. She glanced up at Matt wondering what they were.

"Those are pants, silly." Matt told her jokingly. You put them _over_ your underwear. Emie's eyes widened, staring at the black shorts. He started to worry that she was going to freak out about having to wear even more clothes, but instead her upper left tooth protruded with another smile showing.

"Meowth!" she said ecstatic. She pulled on the shorts over her panties with a yank. They were short, going up to her uppers thighs. At least she had pants now. Sissy and Amber spectated as Doug handed over another article to clothing to Matt. It was a woman's tank top that was a dark maroon color, slightly darker than his crimson jacket.

"This would match perfectly." Doug said, still with his voice sounding like a woman's. Emie saw the tank top, getting even more excited. For someone who hated to wear clothes she was making a bit of a commotion over receiving some from a perfect stranger. Unzipping Matt's jacket without any hesitation whatsoever, she tossed it on the ground and grabbed the top.

Doug let out a 'yeap' from being startled when he saw that Emie didn't even have a bra. Some of the other trainers in the lounge saw that there was a half naked Meowth standing near the counter, one of which whistled. Doug blushed through his makeup, quickly reaching for one of many bras in the bag. Matt took it from him as fast as he could, putting it on Emie himself.

Doug, Amber, and Sissy watched impressed by how fast he put on her bra. He hooked it on with the slightest of ease like he didn't even have to try. Amber, still just getting to know Matt, started to giggle to herself.

"You seem to have experience dressing a woman." She laughed. Even in a bra, the trainers were still hooting and hollering about seeing Emie the way she was. His mind was more on dressing Emie instead of his words. He slid the top over her.

"I've actually had more experience undressing." he said pulling Emie's head through the top. "I got pretty good my senior year of high school after a few of my girlfriends showed me how. It's really not that difficult once you get the hang of it."

With Emie now fully clothed, Matt glanced at everyone, seeing that they all had very different expressions. Doug was smiling haughtily, Amber was actually rather charmed, and Sissy looked at him as if he were the scum of the earth.

"Unbelievable..." Sissy muttered under breathe. Amber couldn't take her eyes off of Matt as if seeming him in a whole new light.

"A guy with your looks and talents you must get a lot of ladies, huh?" Amber told him feeling slightly warm. Matt finally realized what he had just admitted with Emie looking at herself with a 'meowth' of delight. Her outfit looked nice on her. Matt had to find some way of changing the subject, turning to Doug.

"Thank you very much Ma'am for the clothes." he told Doug. In the back of his mind he wondered why someone like 'her' would be carrying around so much clothes. It didn't feel right to ask though. Doug in return waved his hand in front of him as if it were nothing.

"I've been meaning to get ride of those things anyway." he told him. "They don't look nearly as good on me as they do your Meowth. She seems to like them."

Emie was tugging her new clothes with content.

There was the sound of laughter coming towards the desk. Matt looked over his shoulder in the direction of where he had just come from, seeing the same man in the pinstriped suit heading his way along with someone else.

Walking beside the man in the suit was a young male in a white windbreaker jacket with parallel teal stripes running down the side of it. He had identical white windbreaker pants with the same stripes accompanied by white tennis shoes. His brown hair that was styled with matching eyes. He walked so candidly as if he owned the place, being the same age as Matt.

"And so I told my dad if he thought he was going to start skimping on my allowance he blow it out his ass." The young adult in white said with his hands in his pockets. "Imagine, only getting a measly million a month. What a cheapskate."

The man in the pinstriped suit let out another laugh as if this kid were some comedian.

"Sometimes us older adults can be such idiots." the Darrell laughed. "Just be lucky not all of us are as foolish as your father."

Both of them laughed, heading towards the counter. Darrell motioned for Doug to hand over the bag. He did so, searching through it for his camera.

During this time Matt looked at the young adult in the windbreaker who did the same. They didn't know each other, but there was something each of them didn't like about the other. Matt thought this kid looked like some frail rich boy. The guy in the windbreaker thought Matt was an idiot, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sissy and Emie.

"Are those your Pokemon?" he asked. Matt nodded.

"They are." he told him. Matt extended his hand to shake with the guy in the windbreaker looking at it having reservations on touching it. He looked at Matt with a laugh.

"Tell me," he said, "you're new as a trainer, aren't you?"

Matt didn't like the condescending tone of his voice, looking into his eyes more jaded than before.

"I might be." Matt told him putting his hand back by his side. The guy in the windbreaker nearly snorted, shaking his head as if disappointed. Everyone had there focus now on Matt and the guy in the windbreaker.

"You're a novice," he said to him, "so I guess it makes sense for you to have them in their anthro forms and out of their Pokeballs."

"And how does that make me a novice?" Matt asked a little more harshly. Darrell, Doug, Emie, Sissy, and Amber watched the two of them with tension growing in the air.

"Pokemon are only useful in their beast forms." the guy in the windbreaker told him with a smirk. "Anyone else who says otherwise is wrong."

"Well," Matt told him trying to spare an unnecessary conflict. "I guess that's _your_ opinion."

The guy in the windbreaker gave Matt a dirty look.

"You sound pretty cocky for a novice." he told him. "A little too cocky if you ask me."

"Look," Matt told him, "I don't know what your deal is, but I honestly don't give a shit what you think. As a matter of fact, I don't even know who you are."

The guy in the windbreaker frowned at him.

"I'm Jimmy." he told him. "And I'm more of a trainer than you'll ever be."

Some of the other trainers in the lounge area were getting wind of what was going on, seeing the two of them stand off. Matt raised his hand and formed the shape of a zero with it.

"You see this?" Matt asked him. "This is the amount of fucks I give about who you are and what you think."

Some of the trainers in the background got a laugh out of that with Jimmy getting angrier.

"Looks like the novice thinks he's hot shit." Jimmy said with a growl. "You think you've got what it takes to take me on?"

Matt bared a fairly large grin.

"Sorry," he said cracking his knuckles, "I don't hit girls."

The trainers got an even bigger laugh out of that with some making 'O' noises. Jimmy was practically boiling at that point.

"I'm not taking about some pointless brawl!" Jimmy barked. "I'm taking about a Pokemon battle! Your Pokemon against mine!"

Matt's smile faded, looking at Sissy and Emie who were now on edge. Did he dare possibly get them harmed again over something so abrupt and stupid?"

"Not such a shit talker now, are you?" Jimmy taunted. Matt looked back at him unimpressed.

"Calm your ovaries." he told him. "I didn't say I wasn't going to. I just need to ask my Pokemon if they'd be fine with this first."

Matt looked at Emie and Sissy, hearing Jimmy bust out with a gut laugh.

"_You're_ asking your _Pokemon_ if they _want_ to battle?" he laughed. "God, you're a spineless piece of work. You'll never get anywhere if you care about your Pokemon as if they're actually an equal. Then again, I guess you're just as worthless as your Pokemon are."

Emie glared at Jimmy as if she were going to kill him. Matt saw that look in her eyes.

"Emie," he told her, "I need you to be good, okay?"

She let out a frustrated sigh and nodded her head. Jimmy started laughing at Matt's Pokemon, pointing at Sissy.

"And what are _you_ supposed to be?" he mocked. "A dress wearing Growlithe with a stick? I'm _so_ afraid."

Sissy was now the one that needed to be controlled with a blood thirsty look in her eyes.

"Leave it, Sissy." Matt told her. She continued to glare at Jimmy.

"It's a kimono." she corrected him with as much grace as she could force. Jimmy raised his arm like a raptor and tried to copy her voice.

"It's a kimono." he mimicked followed by a laugh. "I can't believe you let that thing wear a talker caller. That voice of hers much get annoying after a while."

Matt got in Jimmy's face, ready to beat him upside the head.

"Okay you piece of shit," Matt told him with darkness in his voice, "I'm going to assume my Pokemon would be more than glad to beat your ass in a battle."

"I would." Sissy complied, gripping her bokuto.

"Meowth..." Emie added with a squinted glare at Jimmy. He smiled back at Matt with a small crowd now around them of trainers with Doug and Darrell looking at each other. Was this going to hinder their plans?

"Here's how it's gonna go." Jimmy told him. "We go to the battle arena of the Pokemon center, we fight, and I win."

"In your dreams, punk." Matt told him. Jimmy cockily raised his head up.

"You really think you can take me with your pathetic Pokemon?" he asked him.

"I know so." Matt told him. Jimmy started chuckling.

"Then why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Jimmy told him. Matt smirked back at him grabbing the envelope in his front pocket.

"I've got 20,000 that says I'll win." Matt told him waving it in his face. Jimmy smiled back, pleased to see Matt actually going through with his taunt.

"Fine." Jimmy told him. "If you win, which you won't, I'll gladly pay you 20,000 tabs. But when you loose you better be prepared to hand over your money after I leave your Pokemon broken and covered in their own blood."

Matt swallowed hard, knowing there was no going back from that point on. He glanced down at the ground at his jacket.

He bent down with a silence filling the small crowd. Matt put on his jacket and dusted off the shoulders.

"Bring it on, bitch." Matt told him with a death glare, adjusting his hat still on backwards.

A total of thirty people were sitting in the stands of the arena of the Pokemon Center, two of which were Darrell and Doug. Being pissed that this was going to interfere with their plan on stealing Jimmy's Pokemon, Darrell grumbled to himself in the stands sitting next to Doug.

"This better be over quick." Darrell told Doug. On the contrary, Doug was actually rather excited about all of this just like everyone else in the stands.

"I'm sorta hopping for Matt to win." He told Darrell. "He seems like a nice guy."

"I think you've been wearing that dress for too long." Darrell scoffed. "I swear you grow into more of a pussy every day."

Doug was insulted, but kept his emotions to himself.

Matt stood on the other side of the arena with Sissy and Emie by his sides. Jimmy stood on the other side of the arena with his hands in his pockets. In the center was a man in a referee outfit. He began to explain the rules of the match.

"This battle will be one on one!" the referee said loudly. "Trainer Jimmy with his four Pokemon against Trainer Matt with his three Pokemon! The battle will be over when the trainer is either out of Pokemon or surrenders. Not items will be used in this match! If a Pokemon withdraws past the trainer line a new Pokemon must be sent out within ten seconds or the trainer loses by default. Are both trainers ready?"

Jimmy grabbed a Pokeball from his windbreaker jacket.

"I'm ready." he told him. The referee looked at Matt.

"Are you ready?" he asked him. Matt cracked his neck.

"Ready." said ready as ever.

The referee exited the middle of the arena and raised his hand in the air. With a sudden downward motion, he blew a whistle.

Matt quickly switched Emie's Pokeball to Green, looking at her.

"Go Emie!"  
"Meowth!" she yelled running out into the arena in her human-like form. Jimmy pulled his arm back and threw a Pokeball.

"Go Beedrill!" he cried. The Pokeball landed on the ground and popped open. Incredibly, the ball flew back into Jimmy's hand with a Beedrill standing there on the arena floor while Emie ran towards it.

The Beedrill was in it's beast form, being about as tall as Emie was in her human-like form. It had large horns on it's hands and lower body. It's insect wings fluttered, going head on towards Emie. The two of them were rushing at each other at full speed.

"Emie," Matt cried. "Jump over it!"

Perfectly in sync with her trainer, Emie preformed a front flip that went well over the Beedrill. Jimmy thrashed his hand to the side irritated when his Beedrill stopped confused, not knowing where the Meowth had disappeared to.

"It's behind you, moron!" Jimmy yelled at it. It turned around, seeing Emie in mid air with her foot flying towards it.

With a heavy kick, Emie's foot met with the Beedrill's head. It flew backwards, but caught itself with it's wings flapping before it hit the ground. The Beedrill flew at top speed towards Emie once again. Matt thought quickly, trying to think of what to do.

"Emie," he ordered. "Get out of the way!"

Just barely, Emie dove out of the way of the charging Beedrill, doing a roll and landing on her feet again. Matt clenched his fist with his heart pounding as the Beedrill attacked her. It stabbed at Emie with it's drill hands, barely missing each time as she dodged out of the way of the attacks. Finally after the forth dodge, Emie was hit across the face with the side of one of it's drill. She hit the ground with a heavy thud. The Beedrill raised both of it's drills about to land a fatal strike.

"Do a handspring!" Matt hollered. Emie put her hands on the ground as she laid on her back, moving her lower body out of the way. The Beedrill smashed it's drill hands into the arena flooring. In retaliation, Emie pushed off the ground with her hands. With as much force as she could work up, Emie preformed a double kick to the Beedrill in the face.

Jimmy watched in rage as his Beedrill went flying backwards, landing on it's back.

It wasn't moving.

He swore, returning the Beedrill to it's Pokeball. The crowd made hollers and cheers, with Doug making a loud woot in his normal voice. One of the people sitting on the stands looked at him, amazed that a 'woman' like 'her' could make such a manly noise.

Jimmy threw out another Pokeball, throwing it in the middle of the arena.

"Go Eevee!" He yelled, throwing out another ball.

A brown dog-like creature with a large tail appeared from the red glow of the Pokeball. In it's beast form, it was about as tall as Sissy was in her beast form, about four feet on all paws. Emie stood off against the Eevee, doing a back flip for show. Matt was more focused on the Eevee instead of Emie's performance. He could see it's legs trembling with it's tail going closer between it's legs. It gave Matt an idea.

"Emie," he cried. "Show that Eevee how scary you can get!"

Emie glanced back at Matt confused.

"Me...owth?" she said to him puzzled. The Eevee couldn't seem to move in fear for some reason. Jimmy was starting to get mad at it.

"Attack dammit!" Jimmy screamed at his Eevee. It was too scared to do anything.

"Show that Eevee how terrifying you really are!" Matt told her. She blinked with a frown. But she wasn't scary, she thought to herself.

"Start getting mad!" Matt told her with his fist in a ball. "That trainer thinks you're a looser!"

"Meowth?!" Emie said surprised. She looked at the Eevee with an angry frown.

"Yeah," Matt added with Sissy looking at him in wonderment. "that douche bag thinks you're not a princess! He told me so!"  
Jimmy looked at Matt as if he were retarded.

"What the _hell_ are you yelling about?" Jimmy asked more at a loss than aggressively.

"Don't listen to him, Emie!" Matt told her. "He told me that you were the dumbest, stupidest, person ever. He even called you a Pokemon!" Matt looked at Jimmy with a grin. "Isn't that right, Jimmy?"

Jimmy looked at Matt as if about to burst.

"Of course she's a damn Pokemon!" Jimmy yelled. Emie's eyes widened.

His plan had worked perfectly. He had gotten Jimmy to upset his Meowth by calling her a Pokemon.

The Eevee trembled before Emie. She started breathing heavily with her hands clenched together, shaking in pure rage. Her fur stood on end with her tail moving side to side as if ready to pounce. She let out a yell that sounded similar to a roar. The Eevee was so afraid of Emie that it couldn't handle herself. Without warning, the Eevee hit the ground on it's side, fainting from fear.

Jimmy swore profusely, returning his Eevee back into it's Pokeball as Emie snapped out of her rage. Vexed, she wondered why the Eevee had fainted.

She didn't do anything...

Sissy was actually impressed with Matt's strategy.

"Scaring the Eevee so Emie didn't risk getting injured or waste energy was a smart idea. "Sissy told him. "Well done."

It was now Matt who felt as if _he_ were the one about to faint. Sissy _complemented_ him?

Even at a loss for words from her unexpected comment, he had to keep his focus on the battle at hand. He watched as Jimmy lobbed another Pokeball out onto the arena. With a red flash, another Pokemon appeared. Looking like some sort of bull with multiple tails, Matt used his Pokemon knowledge to decipher that it was a Tauros.

Emie backed up away from it as it started huffing, glaring at her. More specifically, her red tank top. It scratched it's hooves on the arena flooring with terrifying noise. It was about six feet tall on all hooves with a burly build that looked like it would be painful to be trampled by. Another huff came from the bull with Jimmy letting out a cocky laugh.

"Lets see your stupid flea bag take on _that_!" he laughed. Matt began to worry, knowing that the odds were against Emie.

With a dart, it charged at her with Emie letting out a shrill of terror, running in the opposite direction. Matt knew he couldn't keep her out there, looking over at Sissy. The odds of her standing against something like that by herself were just as dim. He reached in his pocket, grabbing the Raticate's Pokeball. Even if he didn't want to, there wasn't much other choice.

"Emie," Matt yelled as she was still running in circles away from the Tauros, "Withdraw!"

Emie gladly complied, running over to the trainer line. She hid behind Matt as he switched the Raticate's Pokeball between green and red. Afterward, he lobbed the ball out into the arena.

The Raticate emerged from the red glow of the Pokeball, standing on it's hind legs. It looked around perplexed by it's surroundings. The Raticate was fully aware that it had been caught, however, was unsure where it currently was. It snarled at all of the People in the crowd out of natural reflex, snapping it's jaws and showing it's large front teeth. Matt had already begun to regret sending it out.

"Okay, Raticate," Matt hollered to it, "let's show this rich boy what power is all about!"

Completely distracted by the charging Tauros, the Raticate turned his head at Matt with a blank expression. Considering it had the strength to capture him, the Raticate respected Matt, but had no idea what he was referring to.

The Tauros slammed into the Raticates chest, sending him flying down the arena. It landed on his back painfully with a skid. The Raticate got up with a grunt, glaring at the Tauros that had rammed into him. With another loud snarl, the Raticate turned it's hands into fist with it's rat tail sweeping side to side on the arena flooring.

"Take it down, Raticate!" Matt yelled.

At the same exact time, the Tauros and the Raticate ran at each other. Matt, Sissy, and Emie watched the two of them collide with the Raticate grappling around the Tauros' neck. With a sheer feat of strength, the Raticate literally lifted up the Tauros by the head and threw it down on the ground.

"Pile drive it!" Matt ordered.

Following directions, the Raticate dove onto the Tauros with it's elbow like some sort of professional wrestling move. On it's own will, the Raticate grabbed the unmoving Tauros by the tails and started pulling on them. Pulling soon turned into pulling it in circles. It didn't take long for the Raticate to start swinging the Tauros around like it was a sack of potato with Jimmy watching in anger.

Letting go of the tails, Raticate sent the Tauros into the air like a rocket shooting into space. Matt was so stunned by the spectacle that he didn't know what to say. All he could do was watch the Tauros hit the arena floor with a cracking noise. The crowd in the stands cringed by the sound. Even Doug and Darrell were disturbed by it.

"That couldn't have felt good." Darrell commented.

"I think it broke the Tauros' neck..." Doug muttered in half shock.

Jimmy returned his Pokemon, now for some reason having a frighteningly large smile on his face as he took out his last Pokeball. Matt was winning by a landslide with all the confidence in the world. Nothing could stop him and his Pokemon now.

"You think you've won already?" Jimmy asked him cockily. Matt didn't know how to respond.

Without another word, Jimmy hurled the Pokeball out onto the arena. The flash of red light was ginormous that it nearly blinded Matt. In fact, Matt thought the flash of light had begun to play a trick on his eyes. Matt's jaw dropped, feeling as if he suddenly had the urge to go to the bathroom.

The crowd even sounded panicky when they saw the fifteen foot dragon-like thing appear. It's wingspan was massive and it's skin tone was a medium red. It let out a burst of flames from it's mouth upwards in pure rage. It looked down at the Raticate with a terrorizing gaze.

"CHARIZARD!" It roared.

This wasn't going to be as easy as Matt thought it was...


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

"Are you kidding me?" Matt mouthed horrified. Jimmy found pleasure in his mortified expression.

"All of my Pokemon were expensive," he laughed, "but they were worth every cent. You wouldn't believe how much my Charizard cost me."

Matt clenched his fist with the tension rising. His Raticate back up away from the Charizard fearfully. Swearing under his breath, Matt couldn't think of a single way any of his Pokemon could overpower something like _that._ Emie was still hiding behind Matt, now instead of hiding from the Tauros she was hiding her face from the much more terrifying Charizard. He could feel the trembling as she held his arm with her face buried into the back of his shoulder.

The only person who wasn't afraid was Sissy. If anything it looked like she were calmer than normal. She looked at Matt who was too busy ordering his Raticate to stay on guard.

"Be careful!" he yelled. Jimmy laughed at Matt once again.

"That's like telling your useless Pokemon to be careful of a speeding train headed for them. You can scream all you want-" He pointed his finger at the Raticate with the Charizard inhaling with it's monstrously large chest puffing out. "-but all you can do is watch helplessly. Fry that Raticate, now!"

The Charizard let out a burst of fire, blinding Matt from the intensity of the flame. He covered his face as he could feel the heat of the fire even at a distance. He lowered his arm as the flame subsided, seeing his Raticate on the ground with most of it's fur burnt or missing. It didn't move as it lay on the arena floor mobilized in burns and pain.

Matt returned the Raticate into it's ball, lowering his head disappointed with himself. The Charizard roared with Jimmy laughing. It was over. There was nothing that Matt could do. What _could_ he do? Nothing could stop a tank like that.

He saw Sissy step forward out of the corner of his eye. She walked past the trainer line and drew her bokuto.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Matt told her, "You can't take on _that_!"

She ignored him, holding her bokuto with both hands.

"Please set my free will to blue." she told him. Matt looked at her as if she were crazy.

"But-"

"Please trust me. I know what I'm doing." She turned to face him. "I need you to trust me."

Matt swallowed hard, grabbing her Pokeball from his jacket. This was a bad idea. No, this was a _horrible_ idea. Yet something about the way she looked into his eyes was different though. There was a sense of trust and confidence that he had never seen her give him before. Reluctantly, he turned her free will to blue.

The Charizard roared irritably as Sissy slowly approached it with a slow walk. To the Charizard, her bokuto looked like nothing more than a large toothpick. It would have been insulted if it didn't find the situation so funny. A puny Growlithe against a Charizard? What a joke! It inhaled once again with Sissy's ears twitching. Matt could hardly watch with Emie still cowering.

The second it began to shoot flames out of it's mouth Sissy began to run towards it, avoiding the jet stream of fire. With each blast of fire the Charizard missed her as she would jump out of the way or evade it by careful footwork. It was as if she knew what was going to happen before it did. Matt and Emie watched in awe as Sissy ran at the Charizard.

With more grace than Matt had ever seen, she jumped in the air followed by jumping off of it's extended stomach. Her movements were so fast that Matt's eyes couldn't follow all her always. All he could see afterward was Sissy land on the arena flooring afterward. The crowd was silent. Sissy's eyes were shut.

With her back facing towards the Charizard and her bokuto in one hand, Matt watched Sissy open her eyes stoically. Blood was dripping off of her bokuto and onto the arena floor, creating a small puddle. The Charizard stared at her with it's jaw open. A dark red color seeped from it's neck, running down it's body. With a single slice, Sissy had cut it's throat as if it were nothing.

Loosing consciousness from blood loss, the Charizard collapsed face first and shook the ground with Jimmy speechless. It lied there with blood still draining from it's neck. He returned it into the Pokeball with Sissy slowly walking back to Matt, slipping her bokuto into the loop on her kimono. She passed by the referee, who was gawking at her as if he had just witnessed the impossible. He cleared his throat, pointing towards Matt with a lack of concentration, watching as Sissy casually walk back as if it were nothing special.

"Matt is our winner!" The referee spoke loudly.

The crowd went wild, hollering and cheering. Half of the trainers couldn't believe what they just saw! A Growlithe taking down a Charizard? It was ludicrous! They'd never seen anything like that ever, let alone in Viridian!The other half were still in a motionless shock. Had that Growlithe really just taken out that Charizard with one blow and so quickly?

Doug and Darrell's ears ringed with the voices and noises of the trainers, looking at each other baffled.

"Did that really happen?" Doug asked Darrell. With his disbelief turning into a twisted smile, Darrell nodded his head slowly.

"It did indeed, my beautiful wife." he told him staying in character. "I say I've found a much more suitable trainer for our award."

A swarm of trainers gathered around Matt, Emie, and Sissy. They patted him on the back, all talking at once and applauding him, saying how well his Pokemon handled themselves.

"-And when your Meowth kicked that Beedrill in the face, I was like 'holy shit!'" A trainer with a sweater told him enthusiastically.

"Dude, your Raticate is a BEAST!" A trainer wearing a bandanna around his neck added "It threw a Tauros like it was nothing! That was so badass!"

"Your Growlithe was awesome!" Another said with his eyes hidden by a pair of black shades.

Emie was enjoying the attention as Trainers patted her on the head and complemented her. She smiled with her tooth protruding cheerfully. Actually, she even hugged one of the trainers who told her that she was pretty. Being a guy that she was hugging, he awkwardly hugged her back with his face getting red and his ability to not be embarrassed getting harder. Among other things...

Sissy didn't say much with a few female Pokemon trainers talking to her. They would complemented her, saying she was beautiful yet deadly at the same time.

"That's a lovely kimono." a girl said with a Pikachu hairpin holding back her hair. "It really looks good on you."

"This old thing?" Sissy said trying to not brag, "Oh, it's alright I guess."

Nearly all of the trainers focused on Sissy now, realizing that she could talk. A majority of the trainers surrounded her, amazed that she had a talker caller. Emie began to get jealous, looking over towards Matt, seeing that he was gone. She looked around, noticing him walking across the arena towards Jimmy.

There was no word that could even come close to how upset Jimmy was. His father had given him good money to spend on Pokemon, only to have them fail him like worthless trash! All they were to him were tools at his disposal. Tools are meant to work, not break down.

Matt extended his hand towards Jimmy, doing his best to be friendly about the ordeal.

"That was a hell of a match." Matt said to him trying to be professional. Even if he hated Jimmy's guts he felt it was only right to be polite, regardless of his personal feelings. Disgust filled Jimmy's heart as he glared back at Matt.

"Your worthless Pokemon beat mine." Jimmy said to Matt with his gaze narrowing at him. "How dare you try to act civil with me, you trash."

Matt glared back at him, seeing that playing nice with Jimmy wasn't going to be an option.

"I guess my Pokemon aren't so worthless if they can take down yours." Matt told him prospectively.

Before Matt could say anything else to him, for good or worse, Darrell and Doug approached the two of them. Darrell, still dressed as fancy as ever Darrell frowned at Jimmy as if disappointed.

"It seems we were wrong to assume you were worthy of our award." Darrell told him. Matt looked at the 'couple,' wondering what award they were referring to. Jimmy could not accept what he was hearing!

"Wait," Jimmy nearly said begging to them, "you can't just take that away from me! I thought you said you've traveled miles to give me that award!"

Darrell crossed his arms rather sternly.

"We did." Darrell told him coldly. "But after seeing your poor performance, it's in our best interest to not hand out such a prestigious award to a novice such as yourself. Jimmy had been metaphorically slapped in the face. _He_ was the one being called a novice now. Matt secretly found it pleasing to hear Jimmy, the one originally calling _him_ a novice, to have his insult thrown back in his face.

Doug the entire time hid his face from the heated discussion. Conflict never sat well with him.

Jimmy had never been so enraged in his life. Glaring at Matt, he bared his teeth.

"I swear to you," he told Matt through his teeth. "This is not over."

He reached into the inner pocket of his windbreaker jacket, pulling out a wad of cash. He threw it on the ground and stormed off out of the arena of the Pokemon Center with his mind racing, lusting for revenge any way possible. One way or another, he'd find a way to settle his score.

Darrell and Doug watched him storm away as Matt bent down to pick up the money. He counted it, seeing that it was actually more than what they had agreed on. Whether Jimmy had intended on it or not, he had actually been given 23,000 'tabs' as he had heard them be referred as by Jimmy. Matt grabbed the envelope of money and opened it, putting in the money he had won.

With that settled, Darrell gave a wolfish grin to Matt with his mind scheming as it always did. He gave a dramatic bow.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Darrell told him. "My name is Jeremiah Harold McGuffin. And this is my wife Samantha, but from what I've heard the two of you have already met."  
"That we have," Matt told Darrell. "She's a very kind and lovely woman."

"Thank you," Doug told Matt still sounding as if a woman. "you're far too kind."

Darrell wanted to put the small chat aside, knowing that there was work to be done. With the duffel bag over his shoulder, he put his hands together with glee.

"Considering how well you handled yourself in that intense battle," Darrell told him with a cheesy smile. "I believe you are much more eligible for our reward certificate than our previous selection. So, if you'd be so kind as to-"

"No thank you." Matt told him modestly. Darrell swore he had misunderstood him.

"I beg your pardon?" Darrell asked with his voice sounding slightly demanding for an explanation as to why he would turn away an award.

"I'd rather not take an award my opponent was originally going to receive." Matt explained to him. "It wouldn't feel right and I'm not sure I would want any sort of reward _he_ was being offered; no offense. Besides, my victory was a reward enough. Not to mention the cash."

Emie and Sissy managed to break away from the crowd that was around them and headed over to Matt. Of course, Emie gave Matt a giant hug with both legs and arms as she jumped on him from behind. Making things a little more interesting, she kissed him on the on the cheek as she clung onto his back. Sissy wasn't sure what to make of such an action. Emie was certainly more loving towards Matt. She couldn't help but to wonder why...

"I should clarify." Matt told Doug and Darrell. "It wasn't really my victory as much as my Pokemon's. They did all the work; I just sorta helped a little."

Sissy crossed her arms gracefully with her eyes closing. She stood by Matt as Emie clung to him. Darrell was beginning to panic. He couldn't let Matt just walk away with his Pokemon. More specifically, he couldn't allow the opportunity to get a Growlithe that could take on a Charizard slip through his fingers. Obtaining a Pokemon like that would easily get him back into Team Rocket.

"I understand." Darrell told him trying to think fast, "but can I at least take a picture for you so that you can remember this victory. It would be a great memento to look back at when you become a Pokemon Master."

Matt laughed at him.

"I highly doubt I'd ever get anywhere near something like that." he told him modestly. "I suppose a picture couldn't hurt though, as long as my Pokemon are fine with it."

He looked at Emie, who was still hanging on his back. She nodded with her left tooth sticking out again. Matt looked at Sissy, who in a sense looked a little less than excited for a group photo. Nevertheless, she nodded her head.

"I guess it wouldn't kill me." Sissy sighed, sightly feeling proud of herself by taking on a Charizard and winning. That fact alone boggled Matt's mind. He turned to her with Emie still hanging on his back with her tail wrapping around his thigh.

"That reminds me," Matt said to her while Darrell searched through the duffel bag for the camera. "how _did_ you defeat that Charizard? It was like you knew what he was going to happen before it attacked."

Sissy thought about it with a shrug.

"It's a little hard to explain," she told him, "but you remember that I'm a fire type, correct?"

Matt nodded, with Emie mimicking Matt's motion by bobbing her head up and down.

"Although I don't know any special fire attacks," Sissy continued to explain. "I can sense fire. It's a little odd, I know, but fire in a way is like a part of me. I can feel when it is about to come at me and where it lies in the world. My ears or tail sometimes twitch when I'm around fire and I can feel it in my soul. It is only natural for myself to feel and understand it."

Matt found her explanation slightly poetic.

"That sounds fascinating." Matt told her honestly. Sissy gave him a classic dirty look.

"Don't patronize me." she snapped back at him.

"I didn't mean to sound like I was." Matt said apologetically, "I was just trying to tell you that I thought it was a really interesting concept, that's all."

Sissy now rolled her eyes as if he were below her in every aspect.

"And when have I cared about what you thought?" she asked him prospectively. Sissy had a point there. Instead of fighting with her, Matt shut up. It wasn't worth arguing over.

"You were amazing out there." Matt told them, "all three of you, even Raticate."

As if he could hear him, he felt the Raticate's Pokeball wobble in his jacket. With the unexplainable feeling that the Raticate heard how he felt, Matt smiled.

"Meowth!" Emie said rubbing her face against the side of his as she still hung on his back. Her feet were still wrapped around his body along with her tail, which was fairly close beside his privates. Frankly, it bothered Sissy.

"I know I was amazing." Sissy said averting her face from Matt as if upset.

Darrell had finally found the camera, being a gray color. It was the kind that would print out the second you took the picture, but seemed a little fancier. Ready as ever to blind Matt and his Pokemon with the secretly rigged camera, Darrell had yet again a large smile on his face.

"Say cheese!" he said with a dark chuckle.

Sissy stood beside Matt with Emie still holding onto Matt as they all smiled. Emie's was the largest of them all, even with the bruise she had gotten on the face from the Beedrill, with Sissy's being barely a forced smirk. A light flashed with the picture soon printing out. For some reason, the blinding function on the camera didn't work. Doug pulled out the picture card from the camera and handed it to Matt with a smile. The photo was completely gray.

"It'll take a minute for the picture to appear." Doug told him with a smile. Matt held the picture proudly in his hand.

"Thank you very much." he said. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have business to take care of."

Matt said goodbye with Darrell hitting the camera in anger and Doug simply waving goodbye. Emie still rode on Matt's back with her purring. Sissy was following by his side now even more curious about Emie's attitude towards Matt. What had happened to while she was in the Daisy Chamber to have Emie so much more affectionate. It could have very well just been nothing.

"I don't know about you guys," Matt told them, "But I wouldn't mind hitting the hay early tonight. I imagine you guys feel the same way."

The sound of Emie's stomach growling loudly interrupted Matt. He laughed as Emie made a funny face involving how hungry she was.

"How about we get something to eat first, though." Matt laughed.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter 13**_

After dropping Raticate off at the Pokemon center front desk to be healed, Matt and his Pokemon hit the town with his envelope of money in his front pocket. It even larger now after receiving his winnings from Jimmy. The time was now nearing five in the afternoon with the sun going down and a few lights already lighting up on the main part of town. With his ego boosted to a new high, Matt couldn't help but to be happy about his victory. More specifically, he couldn't get over how well his Pokemon handled themselves.

"I'm really proud of you guys," Matt told both Emie and Sissy as they followed by his sides. "so tonight I'm treating you two to whatever you'd like to eat."

Sissy's brow raised for a moment with the promise of food getting her attention, but acted like she could care less. Emie, who was on his left, didn't seem as thrilled about this. She looked at Matt, putting her hands up to her mouth, imitating a rodent eating. Matt could tell she was worried about Raticate not able to eat due to being at the Pokemon center. Putting a comforting hand on her head and rustling her hair, Matt gave her a confident smile.

"Don't worry," he told her, "I'll make sure we bring him some food as well. You didn't think I was going to just forget about him, did you?"

Emie smiled with her tooth sticking out. She was overjoyed to have such a nice, caring person like Matt watching out for her. To her, he was the greatest-

"Asshole." Sissy spat, interrupting Emie's train of thought. Emie nearly broke her neck to look around Matt, who he himself was a little confused by what she was implying. Frankly, Emie was pissed by how poorly she was treating Matt.

"Pardon?" Matt asked. Sissy gave him a haughty smirk, being spiteful in almost every aspect of her being. Even her body language screamed 'I hate you' as she walked beside him on his right.

"You heard me." she said with condescending laugh.

"Yes," Matt clarified, "I heard you, but _why_ are you calling me an asshole?"

Sissy stopped, making Matt and Emie stop as well in the middle of the semi busy street. Only a handful of people passed them as they stood there.

"Don't act like you had anything to do with this win." Sissy told him sternly. "I'm the only _real_ reason we won. Without me, you wouldn't have been able to even scratch that Charizard."

Emie was at her boiling point as she physically shook in rage. She thrashed her hand in Sissy's direction and spurted out swears and insults to her, but to Matt all it sounded like were different versions of the word 'Meowth' spoken in different ways.

"Meowth-Murrowth-Me_eee_owth!" Emie hollered at Sissy. Matt had to hold onto her tail as she swung blindly at Sissy, almost hitting a random stranger on accident who was passing by. Sissy was unimpressed by her words or her display of fury.

"You don't scare me, flea bag." Sissy came back. Emie desperately wanted to rip into Sissy's neck in her rage. She wasn't going to let her talk like that about her and Matt!

Taken by surprise, Matt let out a sigh, tugging on Emie's tail and pulling her back. He turned her to face him, looking into her eyes. She couldn't understand what he was doing.

"I need you to behave, Emie." he told her. Emie's pupils shrunk with her mouth hanging open. How on earth could he let Sissy talk to him like that!? "Can you be good?" Matt asked her almost giving an order with a raised eyebrow. "Could you please do it for my sake?"

Reluctantly, she looked down at the town street and nodded her head slowly. Matt looked over to Sissy as he calmly scratched behind Emie's ear to make her feel better.

"You're right," Matt told Sissy with a lack of emotion. "without you I would have lost the match. So, I wanna get you both something to eat as a personal thank you."

Matt kept scratching Emie's ear as she buried her head in his chest upset. Sissy looked at him as if he were insane. She put her fingers on her temples and massaged them as if she had a headache.

"I don't understand you." she told him with her eyes closed. "Even after I insult you, you still don't have the guts to defend yourself or even make any kind of rebuttal."

A person wearing a hoodie moved his way past them as Matt shook his head slowly at her.

"Let's say I _did_ insult you back or say something like you did to me." Matt said to her with Emie's ear still being scratched. "Would that really make any difference? You don't like me and I really don't think yelling at you is going to make your change you mind. I'd just be wasting my breathe with you."

Sissy blinked with her eyes growing larger from the unexpected explanation. She didn't know how to respond to something like that. Opening her mouth, she was about to say something, but stopped unable to think of anything. There really wasn't anything should could input at the moment. Watching Matt turn around with Emie still by his side, Sissy stood there at a loss for words as the two of them continued to walk down the street once again.

"Are you coming?" Matt asked her.

Sissy groaned, quickly catching up to him with the side of her bokuto tapping against her leg as she hurried. Emie looked up at Matt with a frown. He didn't deserve to be treated like that by Sissy. She was a dumb Growlithe, Emie thought to herself. A dumb, stupid-head Growlithe. A very, _very_ dumb, stupid-head, Growli-

Emie halted as something across the street caught her eye with a large smile returning to her face. Matt stopped with her, wondering what she was looking at. The reflection of the luminescent lights showed in her widened eyes as her mouth now hung open with excitement. She pointed and nearly started jumping with joy.

The thing that had made her so excited was the large picture of a slice of pizza on a sign that read: Silvia's Slice. It was clear the Matt of what food Emie was wanting to celebrate with. She turned to him with her hands together as if pleading for him to say yes. Her innocent kitten-like face stared back at him with her eyes nearly the size of saucers.

"Meowth?" she asked patheticly. Matt looked over his shoulder at Sissy, who had her arms crossed. Unable to reject free food, she sighed with a half assed shrug.

"I guess pizza doesn't sound too bad." She told him. "It's been a while since I had some. Actually, I think the last time I had pizza was when my Mistress's son was still-"

She stopped herself as soon as Sissy noticed the sad look directed toward her from Matt. Sissy turned her head as if not noticing.

"Yeah, pizza's fine." she finished. Matt looked back at Emie, who's mouth was open wide with the metaphorical figure of a D tilted to the right.

"Pizza it is, then." Matt said with a laugh. Emie literally jumped up in the air with excitement and hugged Matt lovingly. He thought it was nice of her.

Sissy didn't seem to thrilled about her affection towards him.

With that, the three of them headed towards the restaurant with Emie pulling on Matt's hand for him to hurry. Lagging behind slightly, Sissy watched the two of them with an emotion bubbling in her chest. She didn't know what to call it.

Music filled the atmosphere of the restaurant as they entered, with oldies sounding tunes playing softly in the background to add to the ambiance. The inner walls were made of red bricks with the occasional pictures hung on the wall. Most of them were of random people outside of the restaurant posing for a photo. It felt like they were really trying to go for that 'small town pizza parlor' feel that made you feel as if the establishment itself was a part of your family. It seemed cozy to say the least, but Matt had seem a million of places like this. It wasn't really all that special to him.

The smell of freshly grated cheeses and cooked bread flooded Emie's nose with her mouth watering. Even if Matt had been to places like this all his life, Emie had _never_ seen anything like this. In fact, she had only had pizza once in her entire life. Ever since then she had been dying to have it again. The restaurant's lighting seemed a little dim, but to Emie it was one of the most spectacular places she had ever been in.

Sissy made herself busy by pointing out all of the flaws in the place. The ceiling had a chip of paint missing, there was a stain on the red carpet below them, and to top everything off, there was a layer of dust on one of the picture frames that hung on the wall. It wasn't like any of this mattered to her though. She was hungry and they served food. That's pretty much all there was too it. It wasn't like she came for a tour of the place.

The trio approached a man who was standing behind a podium with a lamp shining down on something he was reading. He looked up, seeing them and giving Matt a better look at his face. Being young, probably only a few years older than Matt, he had a slender face with his cheeks caving in slightly. Over his right eyebrow was a small bandage with a scar on his left cheek. The sight of Emie and Sissy made him nearly piss himself, especially Sissy on the account of the bokuto by her side.

Clearly having the nerves of a frail old lady, he gave a startled smile to the group, showing his white teeth. One of his front teeth was chipped.

"W-welcome to Silvia's Slice." he stuttered. "Is this your entire party or will there be more joining you?"

Matt was so busy staring at the waiter's injuries that he momentarily forgot to respond. Acknowledging that he had created an awkward silence, Matt cleared his throat.

"Um, just us." he told him still staring at the waiter's visible bruises.

"Would you like a table upstairs or downstairs?" he asked very mouse-like. Matt looked at Sissy and Emie unsure.

"I don't care honestly." Matt told the two of them. "What do you guys think?"

Sissy put a hand on her forehead as if stressed.

"I honestly don't care either," she told him with a groan, "I just want something to eat."

Using her cat-like reflexes, Emie shot her hand in the air with her index finger sticking up. The waiter ducked and covered out of pure reflex.

"Meowth!" she told him Matt with excitement. The waiter opened his eyes, seeing that Matt's Meowth was only signaling for the upstairs. He causally put his arms down, still a little shaky, and grabbed some menu's from beneath the podium he was standing behind.

"O-okay," he told them with his voice faltering. "I'll show you to a table."

Matt and his Pokemon followed the waiter through the restaurant, seeing that most of the tables were empty in the exception of a random few. There was an obese woman eating alone in the corner of the room. Matt also saw a young group of kids (most likely in their early twenties) drinking and doing shots. Both Sissy and Emie's ears would twitch every time one of them would make a loud laugh or slam a shot glass down. Emie cupped her hands over her ears to try and block out the noise of the rowdy drinkers. Matt came to the assumption that either it was a slow night or the restaurant wasn't doing to well. The trio followed the waiter up some stairs in the back, leading to the second floor.

The upstairs seemed to have more people, but only a few. The waiter, choosing a table at random, set the menus down. The spot that he had picked was had one side being a booth with a few chairs on the other side of the table. Sissy wordlessly pulled out one of the chairs and plopped down. Taking the hint that she didn't want anybody sitting beside her, Matt and Emie wiggled their way into the booth as the waiter standing attentively beside the table.

"Could I get you three anything to drink?" he asked, still mousey as every. If Matt didn't know any better, he thought the waiter was expecting him to hit him or unleash one of this Pokemon on the guy. Matt focused on his name tag, trying to read what it said. With chicken-scratch letters, it looked like 'Tidd,' soon realizing that the "I" was actually a poorly written "O".

"Well, Todd," Matt told as friendly as ever. "What do you ha-"

"I'll take water." Sissy interrupted. Emie shot an angry glare at her for interrupting Matt, muttering something under her breath. Even if Matt could hear what it was he wouldn't have understood any of it.

"What do you have?" Matt asked, this time uninterrupted. Todd put his hands together as if nervous. His brain felt like it had completely stopped working. Why couldn't he remember what they had!? He looked down at the red carpeted floor with a forced cough to by him some time. Nothing was coming to him, unable to remember what the establishment had. Whenever he got nervous he tended to forget the simplest of things.

"Could...you repeat that?" Todd asked him, clearly stalling. Motioning her hands again, Emie imitated the motion of pulling something. Puzzlement was the only result she got out of Matt. The waiter flinched with each motion she made. Each movement she made caused Todd to either blink or twitch out of habit. Casting a judgmental eye on him, Sissy found him rather spastic. Perhaps on drugs?

Finally after a minute of charades, Matt stopped Emie by putting his hand on her shoulder with a sigh.

"Emie," Matt told her sounding as if exhausted from trying to understand her. "I have _no_ idea what the heck you're trying to tell me. Just say what it is and Sissy can-"

"Who said I was going to translate for her?" Sissy barked (not literally, mind you) at Matt. He gave her a funny look.

"But you've done it before." Matt told her unsure why she was suddenly moody. "Why not now?"

Emie crossed her arms, clearly not wanting to speak through Sissy either.

"Meowth Meow Meowth..." she grumbled. Matt groaned, beginning to get irritated with both of them finally.

"I don't feel like wasting my breathe translating for an idiot." Sissy spat. Matt sighed.

"Can the two of you please act civil with each other?" Matt asked with his hand on his head. The waiter, still watching the three of them all arguing, thought that it was a good time to try and remember what they had. He swore under his breathe when he couldn't think of anything.

Emie pointed her finger at Sissy.

"Meowth _murrowth!_" Emie yelled. The waiter took a step back in fear things were about to get violent. Sissy stood up from her chair and waved her furred fist at Emie as if she were going to sock her across the face.

"Who are you calling a tail chaser?!" Sissy blurted out in rage. Emie stuck out her tongue at her very crudely. Matt's eyes were closed as he could feel his heart racing. Their voices were getting louder and louder, slowly creating a scene for people who were on the second floor of the restaurant. There was no way in hell Matt was going to allow this.

His eyes shot open, unable to stand anymore of their bickering. Standing up and slamming his hands on the table seemed to get their attention.

"That's enough!" he ordered. Both Emie and Sissy stopped, but soon opened their mouths to protest. Before they could, Matt reached in each of his jacket pockets, pulling both of their Pokeballs out. Natrually, Emie was frightened by the possibility of what he might do. Sissy just looked pissed at him as if he had slapped her in the face. Without saying another word, he flipped both of their free will meters all the way to red.

"Emie," Matt said pointing on the side of the table. "get up and stand over there."

She didn't even try to fight against him. In fact, she looked like she was about to start crying like a child being scolded. Emie did as she was told, standing there by the side of the table. Todd could feel his knees shaking in fear as Matt turned to face Sissy.

"Go stand beside her." he ordered. The instant she heard him say that Matt could feel Sissy fighting him. Unfortunately for Sissy, Matt's will (which was mostly fulled with pent up rage) forced her to comply. She scornfully approached and stood by Emie, glaring at her. Emie did the same with her arms folded together.

"Now apologize." Matt directed. Both Emie and Sissy moved their heads away from the other, almost discussed by the thought. There was no possible way Emie could imagine apologizing to someone as cruel as Sissy was. And on the contrary, Sissy could hardly stomach the idea of apologizing to some half-wit who was so naïve.

Emie huffed, being the first to apologize.

"Me...Meowth..." she grumbled, still not looking at her. Sissy gritted her teeth, contemplating on biting her own tongue to avoid saying sorry. When push came to shove however, she knew there was no way out of it. She too sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

There was a pause with the waiter still watching nervously.

"Now hug." Matt told them.

In unison, both Sissy and Emie darted their eyes at Matt in horror.

"I'm not hugging her!" Sissy told him.

"Meowth!" Emie added. Even if Matt couldn't understand her, he was going to make the assumption that she wasn't very fond of the idea either. Whether they liked it or not, he was going to have the two of them hug. He could feel both of them fighting his will with his head starting to hurt.

"I...said hug." Matt said feeling a little light headed. The information that Sissy had given to him was comming back to his currently pained mind. Controlling two Pokemon each being on red (or in "Point Counting" terms, at 2 points) had never been successfully done in combat without repercussion. He wasn't sure if he could keep this up for much longer, even if they weren't in actual combat.

"I said I'm not hugging her!" Sissy told him definitely.

"Meowth!" Emie repeated. Matt felt strained when he drew breath. Each time he did if felt like he was lifting a heavy boulder.

"Dammit," he swore feeling as if he were about to throw up. "Hug or I'm putting you both back in your Pokeballs!"

As if saying some magic word, both of them hugged reluctantly. Neither of them wanted to go back in their balls, realizing that Matt meant business. They held their hug awkwardly with Sissy moving near Emie's ear.

"I hate you..." she whispered.

Unable to handle it anymore, Matt had to turn both Pokeballs back to green. The two of them quickly moved away from each other.

Both of them sat back down from where they were originally sitting with Matt feeling like he were about to throw up. Luckily he didn't, but had to focus on his breathing for a moment. He looked over at Emie, returning to what they had originally been talking about.

"Let's try this again." he told her with his hand on his head. "What did you want to drink?"

Emie once again imitated pulling something out of the ground. Matt had to use his head, which was now starting to throb, to understand her.

"Are you pulling a weed? A root- Oh, is it _root_ beer that you want?"

Emie smiled, nodding her head vigorously. Matt turned his still aching head to Todd, seeing a fairly impressed expression.

"I don't mean to say anything I shouldn't," Todd told him still sounding a little nervous, "but you're really impressive."

Matt looked at him with his headache slightly disappearing, not sure what he meant.

"How am I impressive?" Matt said half laughing. Todd frowned, worrying he had spoken out of turn or something.

"Well, it's just that, um... Doesn't that hurt?" he asked.

"Does what hurt?"

"You know, controlling both of your Pokemon like that."

Matt shrugged as both Emie and Sissy were giving each other dirty looks to each other.

"When their both on red, I guess." Matt told him. "I've never done that before and my head feels like it's about to pop. I've never felt anything that painful before when they're on green like they are now."

The waiter was at a loss for words

"Are they always outside of their Pokeballs like this?" Todd asked. Matt was beginning to wounder what he was getting at, slowly nodding his head.

"Neither of them like being in them so I just keep them out both on level green." Matt told him cautiously. The waiter's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"That's incredible!" Todd told him. "I've never met a trainer with that much will before!"

Matt blankly looked back at Todd as he sat at the booth. He felt his headache swaying back into full force.

"I'm not sure I follow..." Matt told him looking lost. Todd thought a trainer of his magnitude should surely know what he was talking about. Sissy looked over to Matt feeling irritated with Todd beating around the bush.

"What he means is that most trainers can't handle controlling Pokemon on 1 point for that long."

Matt felt like his cranium was about to burst.

"Point?" Matt repeated. Sissy threw her hands in the air. Was he that clueless or just stupid, she wondered.

"Jeez," she cried, "are you that dense? Having a Pokemon on green is the equivalent of being 0.5 points. Since you have Emie and I both on green, that would equal to-"

"1 point." Matt finished. "I thought that kind of stuff only applied in battles."

"Sometimes," she told him as if talking to a retarded child. "but it all depends on how many orders you're barking too and how much you have to force your will if you're Pokemon are being stubborn. Even with a Pokemon out of it's ball it still take will power to control them, like to tell them to not do something or to...hug each other. And as I told you before, the average trainer can typically only handle up to 1 point without conscience, but only for so long."

Matt didn't realize it worked that way.

"I didn't know." Matt said honestly.

"Of course you didn't." Sissy sarcastically threw back at him.

"I've never met a trainer who could handle doing a feat like that." Todd told him with some of his mouse-like nervousness disappearing. "The longest I've ever seen someone handle their Pokemon on green was for an hour. I've been told it really takes a toll on you after a while."

Matt shook his head.

"I don't understand." he admitted. Sissy was now the one who felt like she were getting the headache.

"Let's think about this for a second, dumbass." she told him harshly. "Why don't you think you haven't seen that many trainers with Pokemon walking outside of their Pokeballs? Most people can't handle controlling a Pokemon for that long, even on the lowest of settings. It's like holding onto weights. Even if the weight isn't that heavy, it still takes a toll on your muscles after a while."

Confused, Matt shook his head at her.

"But I've been doing this for the whole time and I haven't felt a thing." Matt told her. Now even more impressed, assuming what he was saying was true, Todd now saw Matt as some sort of Pokemon master. He'd only heard of the best of the best being able to do that.

"You might not think you feel anything," Sissy told him, "but you probably do and just don't realize it. If you want to understand what I'm talking about, turn both of our Pokeballs to blue."

Curious, Matt putt both of his thumbs on each of their Pokeball will meters, but stopped and narrowed his vision on Sissy. She sighed, as if disappointed that he would assume she would take advantage of such an opportunity.

"I'm not going to do anything," she told him, "I promise. That is, unless Emie decides to start something..."

Emie gave her a dirty look, but shook her head with her arms still crossed.

Trusting the two of them to behave, Matt turned the Poke balls to blue.

There was a release of tension in the back of his head that he didn't realize was even there before. In a way, it felt to him like taking off shoes and letting his toes stretch.

He sat there feeling the relaxed sensation as a couple were led by another waiter to a table only a few tables away form theirs. They looked like they were a couple, both dressed like ranchers. Both of them were also wearing cowboy hats.

Without wanting Sissy or Emie to get any ideas about killing each other, he set their free wills back to green. He felt the slight tension come back, but it wasn't much of a bother. In fact, he was used to the feeling by now.

"That's really weird." Matt said silently to himself. Todd opened his mouth to comment, but remembered that he was on the clock and needed to hurry up and get them drinks.

"So far you want one water and one root beer." Todd told him with his fear nearly entirely evaporated, not twitching nearly as much when Matt's Pokemon moved about. "And what would you like?"

Matt thought about it, adjusting his hat.

"I think I'll just stick with water as well." he told him. Todd gave a half smile and hurried off to get their drinks. The three of them watched as he scurried down the stairs with Sissy finally glad that he left.

"That spas better hurry up with my water..." she told Matt.

Matt groaned once again, getting really tired of listening to her complain.

"Just be happy he's getting you water in the first place." Matt said irritated. "And would it kill you to lighten up a little? You don't have to be such a..." he stopped himself before calling her what he wanted to. Sissy felt as if she knew how he was going to finish his sentence.

"A bitch?" she inquired candidly. Matt didn't want to admit it, but she hit the nail on the head. She gave him a cocky grin, putting her hands in her lap. Emie was really starting to get mad.

"I hate to brake it to you," she told him, "but I _am_ a form of dog _and_ I'm female, so that would technically make me a bitch. So get used to it."

She sorta had a point...

"I didn't want to call you a bitch." Matt told her honestly. "You just... you're just starting to get on my nerves a little. I'd really appreciate it if-"

He was cut off by the sound of Sissy laughing. It was the first time he had seen her do so, but hadn't the slightest idea what was so funny to her. She looked at him with her eyes slightly watery from tears of laughter forming in them.

"You'd appreciate it if what?" She asked him. "Be nice to you? You're probably the biggest pussy of a trainer I've _ever_ met in my life. You're _asking_ me to be nice?"

Matt nodded.

"Yeah," he told her, "I don't think it's that laughable either. Why can't you even show a little decency towards me?"

Emie sat close beside Matt, grabbing his arm in anger. He could feel her trembling in rage. Matt put the hand she was grabbing on her knee as if to try and calm her. Fear was beginning to set in, not sure if he could control Emie at her enraged state if she were to do anything rash.

"You certainly don't have any balls between your legs," Sissy laughed, "That's for sure."

Emie bared her teeth with Matt fearing the worse. What she was about to do was something he did _not_ expect. Perhaps it wasn't so much what she did, rather, what she _said_.

"Meowth mow-murrowth, Meowth..." Emie began with a twisted smile, continuing on for about a minute. Sissy's expression quickly changed the longer Emie spoke.

Even behind her dark orange fur, Matt saw her blushing, more than he'd ever seen her blush before. More than anyone, actually. Her mouth opened slightly, not sure what to say. Matt wished he could understand her native tongue now more than ever. Before he could even ask, Sissy translated, more or less for herself as if she doubted what she had heard.

"She said that...'Matt's balls are larger than you'd expect. They're really smooth and felt amazing when they were hitting against my privates...'"

Matt's face flashed a bright red as Sissy continued the translation. Emie had literally told her everything. About how sweet Matt had been to her when they were talking on the couch, about how he had sex with her in the shower, how amazing he pounded into her, and even how good of a kisser he was.

"...'and he's even good with his tongue.'" Sissy finished translating. Matt had to hid his face from Sissy. Good God, Emie had told her! He didn't think he could look Sissy in the face ever again with her knowing that knowledge. If anything she was going to insult him even more.

"Is that true?" Sissy asked meekly. Matt held his head with both hands with his elbows planted on the table. He couldn't bare to look at her, but wasn't going to lie about what he had done with Emie.

"Y-yeah." he told her. "It's true."

The three of them sat quietly at the table with not a single one of them having anything to add. Matt was too embarrassed about even show his face to Sissy. Emie on the other hand couldn't help but to stare at Sissy with a sadistic grin. By the was Sissy was staring meekly at the menus on the table, she felt just as awkward as Matt did. The feeling she had felt earlier was bubbling in her chest again, but didn't know what it was.

Sitting at the table only a few feet away, the cowboy couple had heard every last bit of the translation. Both of which were dumbstruck. Typically that kind of talk wouldn't catch people like them off guard, however, they weren't really ranchers.

They were Darrell and Doug in another disguise.

"Oh." was all Sissy could say. Matt glanced up at her, seeing that she didn't look very good. If anything she sort of looked sickly from the information. Was it really that much of a crime that he had sex with Emie?

**Believe it or not, it isn't that uncommon for Pokemon trainers to sometimes have sexual relations with their Pokemon. As the bound between Pokemon and trainers grow, at times a good friendship turns into a romance. Some have argued that it's wrong while others say it's only natural for it to happen. In fact, having sexual intercourse with Pokemon has proved to be safer than regular intercourse on the account that it is virtually impossible to impregnate someone from a different species as well as transferring any sexual deceases due to different biological structure and immunities.**

Doug quickly looked around the room startled while Matt was doing the same at the other table.

"Did you hear that?" Doug asked Darrell in a low whisper as both of them held their menus up high as if to hide their faces.

"Hear what?" Darrell said less secretively. "All I heard was that kid fucked his Meowth..."

"I'm not talking about that." Doug said frustrated. "I swear I heard someone talking."

"You're just imagining things." Darrell said adjusting his cowboy hat. "Besides, I'm too busy thinking of a way to snatch that Growlithe."

Doug sighed, regretting going along with his friend.

"This is ridiculous and you know it." Doug told him irritated. The two of them watched at a waiter who looked fairly roughed up and had a chipped tooth serving them drinks.

"Shut up." Darrell told him sternly. "It's a good plan. All we have to do is strike up a conversation with them about how great it is to have Growlithes help out on our ranch and then ask him if we can buy her off of him. He'll naturally say no, but by that time we'll be close enough that we can use the spray mace and-"

"And why the hell am I dressed like a woman again?" Doug whispered in frustration over to Darrell once again, interrupting his plan.

Just like before, Doug had been dressed up like a woman. Wearing a flannel button up shirt with fake breasts behind it along with tight jeans, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, he actually looked like a fairly attractive woman. He had his hair tied back like he typically did when he wasn't wearing a disguise.

"Because there was only one set of male cowboy clothes," Darrell murmured back. "and I'll be damned before I wear skinny jeans meant for a woman."

"And you think I _like_ wearing these pants?" Doug asked him. Turning his head towards Doug, Darrell raised an eyebrow doubtfully. Doug was almost insulted. "These things are so damn tight I've lost feeling in my nuts! Besides...they make my ass look big."

During Darrell and Doug's argument, Todd was ready to take an order for the trio sitting still in an awkward silence. Emie hand motioned a mouse eating like she had done before with Matt guessing that she was trying to imitate it eating cheese.

"I guess a large cheese pizza." Matt said still embarrassed, making sure he didn't show his face to Sissy, who in turn was doing the same thing.

"Cheese sounds fine." Sissy said barely above that of a whisper. Todd quickly made his way downstairs with their order. The three of them sat there saying literally nothing for the longest of time. Matt would every now and then open his mouth, but then close it. Sissy busily toyed with her thumbs as she rested her hands in her lap silently with her face still as red as ever. Emie couldn't have been any prouder with herself since she told Sissy that she had sex with Matt.

Time drug on as Darrell and Doug every now and then would sneak a peak at them, only to see that they were all dead silent with the awkwardness still lingering.

"I can't believe he banged his Meowth." Darrell said almost disgusted.

"So what?" Doug asked, not seeing what was wrong with it. "I can see why. She's pretty hot, if you ask me."

Darrell gave his friend another doubtful look, only to have Doug give him an irate one in return.

"Just because I'm forced to dress like a woman doesn't mean I am one." Doug growled.

"Sometimes I wonder." Darrell said under his breath, looking back over to Matt and his Pokemon. He was trying to think of a perfect way to introduce themselves. If him and Doug were to just waltz up to them and say hello it might be a little odd. Not to mention suspicious.

Before he could come up with anything, he saw Matt reach into his crimson jacket, putting out something and setting it on the table. It looked like a Map.

Matt opened the map on the table, telling himself that it was probably the only thing that could distract everyone from the descriptive explanation that Emie have given about them having sex. They still had a ways to go before they reached the town Bill was located in. He pointed at the city that was north of Pallet, which was of course the one they were currently in: Viridian. Matt's finger trailed up the map to a land marker that had trees.

"We need to go through the Viridian forest next." he told everyone. Emie looked down at the map, not sure what Matt was talking about. Sissy was too embarrassed to pay attention. Instead, she just decided to listen with her hands still in her lap. Doug and Darrell were also ease dropping.

"Before we do that we're going to need to get some supplies." Matt added. "Definitely some food and water to at least last us until we get to the next town. Maybe a few more potions and Pokeballs just in case. I'm really not sure what to expect, so we're probably going to be spending the next few days in town to get some information and to rest up before we head out again."

Emie had lost interest in what Matt was talking about, indulging in the luxury of drinking her root beer. Actually, it was more like she was inhaling it. In one giant suck of the straw, her drink vanished. Matt and Sissy both looked at her as if she had just preformed some sort of witchcraft.

"Wow," Matt said amazed by how much could get through the straw, "I didn't know you were that good at sucking."

Matt instantly regretted his poor choice of words. Sissy blushed even harder, lowering her head to hide it. Emie gave Matt a flirtatious giggle, which was soon replaced with a large hiccup.

The smell of warm cheese filled the upper floor as Todd arrived with their food. He approached their table and set it down as carefully as possible with Emie's eyes glued to the large, circular cheesy goodness. She was about to start drooling as Todd set down a stack of small plates for them to use.

"Will there be anything else?" Todd asked. Emie jerked her arm towards him, making him quickly jump back. Realizing that she was trying to hand him her empty glass of root beer, he let out a relived sigh. He took it and went to refill her drink.

Multiple slices of piece later, not even half of the behemoth pizza was gone. Emie had downed nearly five giant pieces and it showed considering how much sauce she had gotten on her face and whiskers. Matt had only eaten about two slices, obsessing over the map and planning on what course of action to take the next morning. He wasn't sure what took priority: buying supplies or focusing on information first. Sissy however had hardly touched her first piece.

Most of the time she just sat there and stared at it. For some reason, she had completely lost her appetite. If anything, she was starting to feel sick. She glanced up at Matt who had his head resting on his hand, still with his elbow planted on the table. Sissy let out a wheeze that was supposed to be a question, but it was so faint that even she couldn't hear it. A cough bellowed from her lungs with a tickle in her throat.

"Matt?" she said meekly. Fearful, Matt reluctantly looked up expecting to see an angry Growlithe snarling in his face. To his surprise, she appeared much more docile than normal. She looked troubled by something.

"Yes?" he asked her as Emie grabbed another slice of pizza. Sissy looked down and shook her head.

"It's nothing." she told him. Normally Matt would have tried to coax her into telling him what was on her mind, but considering what had been said, it was probably in his best interest to let this time slide. The last thing Matt wanted was even more awkwardness then there already was. Emie wasn't even slightly fazed by the tension in the air. She just kept eating like the bottomless pit Matt had come to know and love.

Pizza sauce accidentally splattered into Emie's eye when she chomped down on a bite of her slice. She dropped the piece and started rubbing her eye violently to get the sauce out. Unable to hold back from laughing, Matt grabbed a napkin and moved it to her eye to help her.

"You're probably the only person who could pull a stunt like that, you doofus." Matt chuckled. After getting the sauce out of her eye he worked on cleaning off the rest of her face. "It looks like you've got an entire tomato slathered over you mouth."

Emie giggled when he poked her ear after he cleaned off her face. In retaliation, she poked him back and licked the side of his face. Matt couldn't resist letting out another laugh as he felt her slightly rough tongue against the side of his face. He put his hand behind her head and started scratching. Emie closed her eyes contently as she started purring as Sissy watched all of this.

For some odd reason, she too felt like the back of her ear needed to be scratched too.

Matt paid for the meal and had a box for the rest of the pizza to take home. Now being around nine at night, the trio began to walk home with only the street lights lighting their way. Matt and Emie walked side by side as they usually did, this time with Emie resting her head sleepily on his shoulder. Sissy followed from behind like she normally did.

Almost falling over, Emie stumbled as if about to pass out from a pizza endued food coma. Matt got a kick out of her as she forced herself to keep walking. Playfully, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"You can't be that tired, are you?" Matt teased. Emie looked at him with a sleepy nod. Even her ears drooped from her fatigue. Matt walked in front of her and lowered down a bit. Emie didn't know what he was doing. "Here," he told her, "I'll carry you."

With a little energy coming back to her from joy, she leapt onto his back as he caught her feet with her arms wrapped around his neck. Sissy watched as Emie affectionately rubbed her head against his and let out a purr of satisfaction. They continued their walk to the Pokemon Center with Sissy's legs suddenly feeling tired. She could definitely use someone to carry her as well.

Sissy watched as Matt would jump up with Emie bobbing along with him. She'd start laughing so hard she'd snort by accident. Matt would call her a dork, making her laugh even harder. To get back at him, she leaned over and playfully nibbled on his ear while Sissy watched this display of theirs silently. Just watching.

The three of them entered the VIP room with Matt telling Sissy she could pick any room she wanted except for the one he had already picked, which was the one on the right on the other end of the VIP suite. Sissy blinked at him, still being very meek and quieter than usual. Emie had fallen asleep on his back. She was snoring softly as he placed the leftover pizza in the refrigerator.

"Emie hasn't picked a room yet?" Sissy inquired at half her usual volume, wondering why Matt had told her any of 'three' remaining rooms. Matt shook his head.

"She'll sleep with me." Matt told her very candidly. "She'd probably throw a fit if she woke up alone in one of the other rooms."

Sissy felt a sinking feeling in her gut. Matt swore he saw a different side to her, only if it were for a second. Unable to ask what was wrong, Sissy had already headed for one of the rooms on the opposite side of where Matt and Emie were going to be sleeping at.

She entered the suite room, not even once amazed by seeing such the amazing place for the first time. Sissy drug her bare feet over to the large bed and began to undo the sash that held her kimono together. She let it fall to the ground and took off her kimono, letting it do the same along with her bokuto that was still holstered with it. Completely naked, she got beneath the sheets of the bed and laid on her side.

Closing her eyes didn't help her fall asleep. Instead, she tossed over to her other side and stared at the wall. The sickness that she had been feeling that night was growing inside of her like a plague that couldn't be stopped no matter how badly she wanted it to. Every time she closed her eyes she would picture Emie and Matt having sex.

Tossing once more, Sissy was starting to feel angry for some reason. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering why the hell it bothered her so much. So what if those two idiots had sex? It didn't matter to her. Sissy started to wonder how pathetic the two of them probably were when they had sex. However, from the very detailed description Emie had given her, it didn't sound very ridiculous. She was probably just exaggerating though. Matt probably couldn't last for more than five minutes and she just lied about the rest.

Envisioning the two of them hunched over each other only made her more uneasy, turning to her side again. Dammit, why couldn't she get them out her head!? It was stupid Matt's fault! He probably just pulled down her panties and went at it like some...some muscular male.

No, it was Emie's fault! Sissy turned to her other side again as she flailed about in the bed. She already dressed like a wannabe slut who didn't have the decency to wear real clothes like everyone else. Everything was fine until that bitch showed up, with her big boobs and her stupid chubby butt and-

Sissy stopped with a horrible realization. Her eyes widened.

"Am...I jealous?" she asked herself. She could hear Matt's voice echoing in her ears.

_ "You don't like me and I really don't think yelling at you is going to make you change your mind. I'd just be wasting my breathe with you."_

Sissy felt herself sniffle. Was she just a waste of breathe to him?

She laid their on her side, curling up into a fetal ball. Even as tired as she was, she couldn't sleep. Out of nowhere, she could feel tears running down her face. Not long after she shamelessly cried herself to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14**_

Jolting from his slumber, Otto heard pounding on the front door downstairs. He stumbled out of bed and grabbed for his clothes that were in a ball on the floor. Looking at his alarm clock, it was two in the morning. Who the hell would be knocking on his door at this hour? Otto threw on his clothes, nearly tripping out of his bedroom door as he headed for the staircase.

He hurried down to the first floor as the pounding relentlessly continued. Otto made haste to the door, opening without hesitation.

It was Rachel. And she was in tears.

"Matt's gone!" she cried with her emotions getting the best of her. Without even a slight warning she hugged him with tears in her eyes. He stood there with her arms wrapped around him, sobbing like a child who's dog had just died. "I can't find him anywhere! I've been looking day night to find him and you're the last person I could think of that might know what happened to him."

Otto had completely forgotten about her during this time of crisis. It was rare to see her like this.

He patted her head feeling like an idiot. Soothing her was beyond his ability and he knew it. Patting her on the head like a dolt wasn't going to help either, but he did it anyway.

She pushed away from him to try and save what little dignity she had left, sniffling and wiping away the remaining tears she had. Rachel was going to have to force herself to be strong in her moment of weakness.

"I pissed off Matt pretty bad a few days ago and ever since then he's been gone."

Otto didn't know if he should tell her or not. Could she handle knowing what had really happened? He didn't know what to tell her.

"Oh." was the best he could come up with. Rachel found his lack of empathy very troubling, considering that Matt was his best friend. Her expression of being distraught slowly formed into a suspicious frown. She looked him dead in the eye with Otto quickly looking away. She clenched her hands into fists.

"Otto," she said through her teeth, "you wouldn't have anything to do with him missing, would you?"

He looked back at her nervously.

"No!" he exclaimed. "Well, not really. I wasn't my fault-"

Rachel grabbed Otto by the collar of his shirt, yanking him forward. For someone with a small frame she was damn strong. Her reputation as an abusive friend showed now more than ever as she held onto his shirt about to rip him a new asshole.

"What the hell did you do to Matt _this_ time!" she hollered. Otto swallowed hard.

"You're not going to believe a word of it." Otto confessed

"You better start flapping those gums or you'll be needing a doctor to get my shoe out of your ass!"

There was a long, silent pause as the two of them stood face to face with Rachel still holding onto Otto's shirt with an iron grip. He cleared his throat with his nerves shaken.

"Would you like to come inside?" Otto asked her sheepishly.

It took about a half hour for Otto to explain what had happened. The entire time Rachel had her hands on her head more disappointed than anything. It wasn't hard for her to believe any of what Otto had told her. Both Matt and Otto tended to get themselves into bizarre situations all the time. There was the time Otto accidentally mutated a rat into some freak of nature and almost killed Matt, the time where Otto found a way to turn dairy products into explosives (once again, almost killing Matt when he thought it was a smart idea to juggle some of the "milk-bombs"), and even a time when Otto tested an experimental vitamin on Matt which turned out to be a hallucinogen, having him 'tripping' for an entire week. This however took the cake. The only thing that came close to something of this magnitude was the time at the convention Otto was hosting in Florida, but that itself who a whole other story of it's own.

Rachel looked up at Otto as if disappointed.

"Otto," she told him with a loud groan, "you've done some really stupid things, but you deserve an award for this crap." She stood up from the couch she was sitting on and gripped her hair. "I can't leave the two of you alone for a single day without one of you either almost loosing a limb or killing yourselves. Well, I honestly don't care if _you_ killed yourself-"

"Gee, thanks." Otto muttered sarcastically.

"-but Matt's been my friend ever since we were kids and I don't feel like loosing him."

Otto gave her an offended look.

"I've been his friend for just as long as you have!" he told her standing up from a chair he brought out to the living room. "At least I don't harass or beat him up on a regular basis!"

She shot him an evil eye.

"The point is," she said avoiding that fact, "I'm not going to let Matt get himself killed over some stupid shit _you_ could have prevented."

Otto threw his hands in the air.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know he was going to transport himself to another dimension?!" He yelled.

"Maybe if you put a note on the do-hicky saying 'Matt, don't fucking use this' then we wouldn't be having this issue in the first place."

Otto placed his fingers on his trembles, rubbing them gently. It was hard to stay focused when Rachel was being her bitchy self. How could Matt put up with someone like her?

"How about we stay solution orientated?" he told her frustrated. "Right now I've been researching the Pokemon universe to try and get information on-"

"Researching?" Rachel threw back at him. "First of all, it looks like you were sleeping, and that's not going to get Matt back. Second, researching where he went isn't going to get him back either."

"You're telling me I'm not supposed to sleep?" Otto asked her rhetorically. "I'm no use to Matt whatsoever if I'm a zombie at a keyboard."

"You're already no use to him." she yelled, thrashing her arm in his direction. "We need to find out how to get him back, not stick out thumbs up our ass and sit around!"

"What the hell do you think I've been doing all this time?" Otto asked her yelling just as loud as she was now. "Knitting him a sweater? I've been trying to figure out how to send him back, but it's not working at all."

Rachel looked at Otto, putting her hand on her chin.

"But you can still send people over, can't you?" she asked him with a peculiar sound to her voice. It was as if Otto could almost read her mind. He started shaking his head.

"Oh, no," he told her sternly, "I'm not sending you over; you'll only complicate things even more. As it is, Matt sounds like he's doing fine."

Rachel walked forward, getting into his face once again.

"He might _sound_ fine," she told him, "but you and I know Matt better than that. He wouldn't tell you the truth if he were really in trouble. Shit, he'd probably tell you how much fun he's having or how great things have been going even if he were on his death bed."

Otto swore under his breath with Rachel hearing him. He knew she was telling the truth. After the years of knowing him, Matt really did keep to himself when things were going bad. He was always there to help others, but never liked to have others help him. Countless lies were told just because he didn't want his friends to get involved with his troubles. Otto knew this better than anyone. Nevertheless, Otto shook his head once again.

"I can't just send you there." he told her. "You don't know a thing about the place."

"Sure I do." Rachel said, really sounding like she could care less. "It's a place filled with stupid little creatures that battle and crap. What's not to know?"

For someone to be so skilled with common sense and reasoning, Rachel had never sounded more ridiculously stupid in her life.

"It's not that simple, Rachel." he told her. "This universe isn't as childish as-"

"Look," Rachel interrupted Otto rudely, "I don't give a damn if I'm going to hell and back, Matt needs help whether you realize it or not. And if you're just gonna play computer nerd then _I'm_ gonna go help him, even if that means I'm sent to Pokey land, or whatever the hell it's called." She headed for the front door. "I'll be back in an hour or two." she told him. "Have the warp thingy ready by the time I'm back after taking care of some business."

"It's called a Dimensional Transferring-"

She slammed the door behind her.

"Shit." Otto groaned, falling back into the chair he was originally sitting in. "This isn't gonna end well..."

Matt was asleep in bed with Emie snoring beside him. She was curled up with her back pressed against him and his arms hugged around her lovingly. With Emie only in her red-hot panties, she slept soundlessly. Matt however was having one of his usual nightmares. He awoke with a shock, quickly looking around the room.

It was just a dream...

He looked around the dark room once more, seeing the clock on the wall say it was four in the morning. Carefully moving his arms from Emie, Matt got out of bed. He quietly walked his way to the bathroom while Emie snoozed peacefully.

Closing the door behind him, Matt approached the bathroom mirror. His hands rested on the bathroom counter, looking down at the sink between them. The damn thing was spotless to the naked eye. Matt however spotted a stain underneath the facet along with some near the drain. It just went to show that no matter how hard you clean something there will always be stains. Or scars...

Matt looked back up to the large mirror that spread along the entire bathroom wall. His short, brown hair was messed up with his dark, blue eyes staring back at him. There was a small part on his nose that was a slightly lighter color from where skin had grown back. Most people didn't notice unless they knew to look for it. When he was fourteen a kid had punched him in the face so hard that he broke skin. A small part of his eyebrow had a slight spot of hair missing that was almost unnoticeable after he had to get stitches from when a punk hit him in the face with a baseball bat, being seventeen at the time.

His body was covered in so many marks and nicks that he couldn't count them all. Most of them were from being punched or hit with blunt objects. However, there were four scars Matt had that were not. All of them were daily reminders of who he really was as a person, for better or worse.

On his shoulder was a darker patch of skin from a burn mark that had never fully healed right.

It was a tuesday, or maybe it was a wednesday. Matt had been out on a walk when he saw smoke rising down the street. Naturally worried, Matt ran to see what it was, finding that it was a house fire. People were outside panicking with the sound of someone inside screaming in pain. Without even thinking, Matt rushed into the place to save a man who was trapped under some of the roofing that fell in on him. Matt managed to get him out, but got burned pretty badly in the process. Reporters called him a 'hero.' It made him laugh. He wasn't a fucking hero. He was _stupid_.

Matt turned, looking at his upper back to see the large scar he got from barbed wire.

He and some friends were out late one night and got the idea to vandalize their history teachers truck. He had given them all shitty grades on a test and that was more than enough of a reason to tag his car. Matt actually was the one who thought it was a good idea. So, naturally, he was the one to write "suck a big dick." in sharpie on the windshield. Some police were called anonymously, forcing the friends and him to run like hell. They all split up with Matt running into some wetlands that was fenced off with bared wire. He desperately crawled in the mud underneath it, getting snagged on the wires. Luckily, he managed to escape, but was cut pretty bad. Just thinking about what he did made him feel regretful. Was he really that juvenile in his youth?

Still looking in the mirror, Matt lifted his right elbow, reviling a long cut that went from his upper elbow all the way up to his shoulder.

Matt had been standing up for his girlfriend who was being harassed by some street gang who tried to grab her ass. He stood his ground with one of the thugs pulling out a knife on him, slicing into the back of his arm. They ran off when they saw him bleeding on the ground, holding his arm in excruciating pain. Matt was in the hospital for a few weeks and was told he couldn't use his arm for a least a month. He ended up getting fired from his part time job as a grocery stockier since he couldn't report for work with his arm the way it was. His girlfriend ended up dumping him since he was jobless and broke, starting to date a jock. Ever since then Matt had issues with getting too close to people. He was a dumbass for actually thinking someone cared about him for who he was instead of what he had in his wallet.

The last scar topped them all sadly and was one that he didn't like to talk about. Matt looked at his left side with whole shaped mark that was barely visible. It burned just thinking about it.

After being stabbed and dumped, Matt spent a lot of his time a local gym the owner let him use when he agreed to help clean up every day. During that time he got into boxing, spending most of the time in the ring or using the punching bag. He got so good in fact that he was starting to make a name for himself. It didn't take long for a guy to flat out challenge him to fight to prove who was better.

Matt told him no. He wasn't going to fight some random stranger that wanted to prove he was better than him. It was pointless. That pissed the guy off really good. After nearly five minutes of this guy screaming in Matt's face, he finally agreed just to appease him. So the two of them fought.

Matt won in a single punch, knocking this guy on his face. After the fight the guy got up and ran off, telling Matt that he was going to get him back for making a fool out of him. Without thinking much of it, Matt laughed it off.

Later that night when he was walking home from the gym the guy approached him once again, but this time with a loaded gun in his hand.

Matt was shot in the side, falling on his knees in agonizing pain. The burning of the bullet was unbearable with tears forming in his eyes. The guy took it one step further, putting the barrel of the pistol in Matt's mouth as he knelt there. It was by far the most frightening moment in his entire life. He would have died too if the owner of the place hadn't heard what was going on. Before the trigger was pulled the owner tackled his assailant and subdued him. The guy went to jail and Matt was rushed to the hospital. He remained continuous the entire time with the feeling of the bullet burning in his side.

Matt stared back at himself in the mirror and shook his head. He had done some really stupid shit in his nineteen years of life, regretting most of them.

He regretted the choices he made when it came to friends that would later abandon him.

He regretted the times he got himself into trouble due to his poor judgment calls.

He regretted the fact that he could have done things so much differently.

But just like stains in a sink, there are some things you just can't change or get rid of no matter how bad you want to forget or fix them.

Matt had gotten himself into more fights then he could count. Most of them were because he was intimidated into them. Someone would call him a name and he'd crack his knuckles into the side of their face. If somebody tried to humiliate him, he'd beat the shit out of them. When push came to shove, Matt would shove harder, in a sense.

He shook his head as his reflection did the same. His whole life was a fight.

A fight he wasn't going to win.

The sound of the bathroom door opening made him look up from the sink. At first he thought it was Emie. To his surprise, it was Sissy. She was wearing her kimono without her sash, having to hold it closed like a robe.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. What an odd question to ask someone while you're in their room's bathroom. Matt was wondering the same thing.

"Did I somehow wake you?" Matt asked her. But how could he have? She was sleeping in a room on the other side of the suite plus he nearly tip toed to the bathroom. Sissy gave a faint frown, instantly blushing when she realized he was only in his boxers. She had to look somewhere else with her face turning red beneath her fur.

"Well, yes you did." she told him. "I felt that you were distraught..."

Matt looked at her as she kept looking away from him. To keep her eyes focused on something, she was staring at the shower. What Emie had told her flooded back to her memory. The shower only made her even more awkward.

"You _felt_ that I was distraught?" Matt asked her confused. "I don't understand."

"Pokemon and their trainers sometimes have a sixth sense about each other." she said sounding shy for some reason. "I couldn't sleep and I felt that something was wrong so I came to check on you."

Matt softly smiled back at her, seeing that she was embarrassed by him only in his underwear. She glanced over to him, but jolted her head away once more when she saw him staring back at her.

"That's very kind of you." Matt told her. "I'm sorry if my trouble thoughts somehow kept you up."

Sissy shook her head slightly, still looking away, every now and then glancing back to him.

"I already couldn't sleep." she told him. "I had a nightmare."

Matt frowned from hearing that.

"I had the same." he told her. "That's quiet a coincidence."

The two of them stood there in the bathroom not saying anything with Sissy still unable to look at him only in his underwear. He sighed, turning to look to the mirror once more.

"I really fucked things up." Matt chuckled. Sissy looked up at him, seeing his back facing her. She saw the large scar on his upper back. He turned to her, looking into her eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked her. Sissy, barely able to keep eye contact, nodded her head slowly. "Do you have regrets?"

She didn't even have to think about it, already knowing her answer.

"Yes." she said without hesitation in a soft, almost troubled, voice. "I have regrets."

Matt gave a weak smile, looking back into the mirror.

"My life feels like it was built on regret." he muttered to himself. With Sissy's impressive hearing sensitivity, she heard what he had said. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but didn't know what to say. Never in her life had she been good at making feel people feel better. Honestly, she was better at upsetting them more than anything. Matt turned to her once more.

"Since either of us can't sleep," he told her with a small smirk. "would you mind if we just talked?"

Sissy was surprised with her mouth shrinking a little. She looked around the bathroom. Did he want to talk in the bathroom? As if reading her thoughts, he laughed.

"It's probably best if we talked in the main room." he joked. "I'll get some clothes on."

Sissy nodded her head, looking away from him again. For some reason she couldn't help but to look at his body with all of it's cuts and scars.

Matt put on his pants and shirt, meeting Sissy out on the large couch. He sat down beside her as she sat with her legs crossed and her hand on her kimono to keep it closed. Her long hair, going down to about her mid back, was a slight mess with black tipped ears slightly drooping. Matt leaned forward on the couch with his elbows resting on his legs with his hands together in the position that resembled the way someone would be praying in. His fingers crossed, creating a two handed ball.

They didn't say anything for a while with Sissy looking over at him from time to time as he stared in front of him with the flat screened television turned off. It was like he were watching his life being projected in front of him on the screen.

"I'm sorry I've dragged you into this mess." Matt told Sissy. She frowned at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked. He looked at her as if she should already know.

"If it wasn't because of me you'd still be with Mom right now." Matt told her sadly. "You shouldn't have to be stuck with me because I got myself into a situation that was my fault to begin with."

Sissy's frown grew more with her shifting her head side to side.

"It wasn't your fault that you came here by accident." she told him. "I can hardly imagine what it must be like adapting to all of this."

Matt glanced at her a little surprised. Was she being kind to him?

"I didn't think I'd ever hear you being compassionate," he told her half joking. "Especially to me of all people."

Even with innocent intentions, Matt saw that he had upset Sissy. She didn't get mad nor did she start yelling. Small droplets formed in her eyes. Emotions that she was holding in could no longer be kept bottled up. For some unknown reason, she began to cry. Covering her face from Matt, she cried like she had done before after Matt had saved her from the Raticate.

"I'm so sorry..." she cried with her face still hidden from him and her hands over her eyes. Matt had never liked seeing people cry, especially people he cared about.

"For what?" he asked her with his heart aching for her. She removed her hands and looked him in the eyes. Her brown eyes had a shimmer to them that seemingly lit the darkness of the room that they sat in. Her lip trembled along with her body shaking.

"I've treated you so poorly." she told him in tears. "Even when you show compassion and understanding I still treat you like trash." Even more tears started to flow down her face, dampening her fur. "You saved my life and you carried me all the way to town. I would have died if it weren't for you. I've been so cruel to you..."

Matt watched as she cried.

"Sissy," he told her softly, "It's okay."

She thrashed her head as if mad.

"No!" she cried. "It is not okay!" She looked into his eyes with Matt seeing a familiar pain that he hadn't seen in a long time. It was a hallow look that only those who were truly lonely have. She turned her head away from him as she continued to cry.

"Eventually I'll say something to you that will break through your compassion." she told him weakly through her tears. "You'll get so mad that you'll abandon me. And to be truthful, I won't blame you when you do..."

Something inside of Matt snapped.

He quickly grabbed her by the shoulders. Panicked, Sissy was turned to face him. Matt's hands were strong and firm. She looked into his dark blue eyes seeing tears of his own forming with his face. He looked dead serious. She could feel him trembling for some reason.

"Listen to me." he told her with an inner pain in his tone. "I will never abandon you. Ever."

Sissy opened her mouth with her tears momentarily halting.

"But..."

"Sissy," he told her firmly, "I will never leave or abandon you. I promise."

The two of them stared into each others eyes.

"Matt..." she said. "I...I lo...I really care about you."

Sissy lunged forward and hugged him under the arms, starting to crying again. He hugged her back, holding onto her as she cried in his arms.

"I'm sorry..." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's alright..." Matt told her comfortingly.

"You probably hate me..."

Matt shook his head as he held her.

"I don't hate you, Sissy." he told her. "In fact..."

He stopped himself. After a moment of silence and Sissy holding back her tears, she looked up at him as if insisting to continue what he was saying. Begging eyes forced him to finish. How could he say no to her beautiful eyes?

"I'm actually rather...fond of you..." he admitted with his face turning slightly red. He hid his face from her with embarrassment.

Sissy blushed back at him. Looking back, he noticed that her head had slightly inched closer to his. Matt watched as her face came closer.

Everything was silent.

The sound of Matt's phone beginning to ring interrupted the silence. Both Sissy and Matt and looked at his pocket as his phone jingled. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to see that it was Otto calling him on the caller ID. Matt answered the phone irritated.

"Dude," he said, "who the fuck calls at 4:30 in the morning?"

"Matt," Otto said sounding a little panicky. "I gotta tell you something; Rachel knows."

Matt stood up from the couch with Sissy accidentally falling forward a little from not having him to hand onto. She looked down, realizing the her kimono was slightly open, quickly closing it. Matt didn't notice.

"What!?" Matt exclaimed very loudly.

From hearing all of the crying and commotion, Emie exited Matt's room rubbing both of her eyes in a half awake daze.

"Me...owth?" she mumbled in her groggy state. She opened her eyes seeing Matt with the phone up to his ear with Sissy sitting on the couch close to him. She tilted her head confused. What was everyone doing up? Additionally, she was still half naked and only wearing her panties.

"She forced it out of me, man!" Otto told him. "You know how she is; don't hold that against me!"

Matt put his other hand on his head with his white tee shirt slightly raising and showing his skin. Sissy saw another mark on his body. She shook her head. Wait, why was she staring at him in the first place? Even though she knew the answer she felt it was necessary to lie to herself.

"I know, I know," Matt told him with a groan. "Is she pissed or something?"

"Worse." Otto told him. Matt didn't know what to think to a comment like that.

"What could be worse than-"

A bright flash lit the dark room, blinding everyone. From nowhere, a young woman appeared, landing face first on the floor of the VIP suite with a backpack hanging over her shoulder. Emie nearly jumped five feet in the air with a shrill from the surprise along with Sissy who fell off the couch. Matt was as motionless as a statue, only staring in horror at Rachel who lie there on the ground.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me..." Matt told him on the other line.

"Matt, believe me, I-" Matt hung up the cell phone and dropped it on the couch.

Rachel was a little stunned from the dimensional jump she had gone through. She blinked her eyes a little, still blinded from the flash of light she saw when activating the machine.

"God damn it, Otto." she swore, "you could have at least warned me about the bright light."

She got up on both feet and rubbed her eyes, still unaware of her surroundings. He opened them that with her vision still blurry. When things came into focus, she stumbled backwards from shock.

Seeing a half naked cat-woman, a dog-woman in a dress like thing that she had only see people in Japanese culture wear, and Matt standing there with them made her startled beyond words. She opened her mouth to speak with nothing at first coming out at first. Her first words could have been anything. 'Where am I?' she could have said or 'What's going on?'

"Furies?" Rachel cried. "Furies?!"

It didn't take long for Matt to realize what she was talking about. All things considered, he didn't really think about it, but they _were_ technically furies. Matt didn't know what to say to her, but had had an idea.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" he yelled at her. Rachel turned red in the face from anger, punching Matt right in the chest.

"I came to help you, asshole!" she hollered. Matt held his chest in pain.

"I didn't need your help!" Matt yelled at her. "What on earth made you think you were going to help me by coming here?!"

"Well I wasn't going to just to leave you high and dry!" she yelled back. Emie and Sissy watched the two of them bicker with Emie shaking in fear. Where had this woman come from!?

"M-m-m-me-meowth!?" Emie panicked. Sissy was more in awe than anything.

"Matt," she asked him, "do you know this woman?"

Matt turned his head with Rachel letting out a yelp of shock.

"Holy shit, it talks!" Rachel screeched.

"Unfortunately I do know her." Matt told Sissy irritated. "She's a 'friend' of mine from where I come from." Matt felt another punch from Rachel, buckling over in pain. He held his stomach in agony, clenching his eyes closed.

"You damn well know I'm your friend, you dick!" she yelled at him.

Even if Emie was afraid of this magically appearing woman, she wasn't going to let her attack Matt like that! She charged at her with Rachel letting out a scream of surprise when she saw the half naked cat-woman charging at her.

"Emie, leave it!" Matt ordered still hunched over in pain with his eyes closed. With Matt's order mixed with Emie's inertia, she stumbled and landed flat on her face. Her ears folded back in pain with her face buried in the carpet.

"Meoooowthhhh..." she moaned. Rachel took a step back away from Emie, giving her a light tap at her with her foot.

"Why did that half naked furry just try to attack me?!" Rachel panicked. "Good god, and why is she only in her underwear!?"

Matt opened his mouth with Rachel punching him in the shoulder while he was hunched over. He let out a grunt of pain.

"Dammit, Rachel," Matt said in pain, "If you'd stop hitting me I could explain!"

Rachel looked down at the Emie, who's face was still buried in the carpet. Considering how hard she hit the floor Matt worried if Emie wasn't continuous. Sure enough though, she rose to her hands and knees with blood trickling off her nose and onto the floor.

In the fray of panic and confusion, Sissy eyed Rachel in wonderment.

"What's a furry?..." she inquired. Rachel looked at her as if she were crazy.

"You're talking again!" Rachel panicked. Sissy was less than amused by her observation.

"I'm glad you realize that." Sissy told her sarcastically and fairly irritated.

Rachel looked at Matt for an explanation as Emie's nose continued to bleed as she knelt on the floor in pain.

"Matt," Rachel panicked. "that furry is talking!"

Sissy stood up from the couch with her hand holding her kimono closed.

"What on earth is a furry?!" Sissy said becoming more frustrated by her name calling. Matt wheezed, trying to regain regular breathing after Rachel punching him in the torso. Emie was nearly in tears from her nosebleed. The way she kept repeating 'Meowth' sounded like she was in pain.

"Will all of you shut up for five seconds?" Matt asked upset. All eyes were now on him, even Emie's, who was holding her nose shut to stop the blood from pouring out. Matt knew this was going to be a bitch to explain everything.

All three of the girls were sat on each part of the large couch. To the left was Sissy, now with her sash around her kimono to keep it closed. To the right was Emie who had small balls of toilet paper crammed in each nostril to stop her nosebleed and was now wearing clothes. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at Rachel. And in the center was Rachel herself, taking turns at looking at each 'furry.'

"Okay," Matt said directed at Rachel, motioning over to Sissy. "This is Sissy."

"Sissy?" Rachel commented. "That's a stupid name."

Sissy bared her teeth at her, holding back on telling her off.

"Good thing I didn't ask for you opinion." Matt told her harshly. "Would you please shut the hell up so I can explain?"

Rachel rolled her eyes at him. She was naturally worse than Sissy was. Maybe that's why Matt could deal with Sissy so well. She was nowhere near as bad as Rachel was.

"Whatever." Rachel told him as if he were wasting her time.

"As I was saying," Matt said rubbing his chest with the sting of the punches still lingering. "her name is Sissy and she's a Growlithe."

Rachel gave Sissy another puzzled and bewildered look.

"But she's a furry." Rachel told him prospectively. Sissy put her hands on her head.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Sissy asked annoyed.

"Because you're a furry." Rachel said getting just as annoyed. "How can you not know that?"

Matt put his hand up, stopping the two of them from continuing.

"I'll explain what she's talking about, Sissy." Matt told her. He opened his mouth, but Rachel beat him too it.

"A furry is a creature, for example a dog, cat, or whatever, that's anthropomorphic. In other words it's pretty much just a cross between a human and an animal."

"But I'm not an animal." Sissy protested. "I'm a Pokemon."

"But Pokemon in a sense _are_ sorta like animals from what I've seen." Rachel told her. "I don't play the games or anything, but Matt does. Not to mention has a fetish for furies..."

Matt did an embarrassed double take towards Rachel.

"W-wait a minute," he told her," I don't have a-"

Rachel looked at him with a haughty and sadistic grin.

"Don't bullshit me," she told him, "I've seen the porn on your computer, most of which being of furies."

With this new information, Sissy blushed and glanced at Matt, seeing that he was blushing too. Matt had to try and change the subject.

"I don't see what my sexual preferences have to do with explaining our situation." he said turning his head away from her. She grinned even wider with her white teeth positivity shining with evil intent. She was enjoying this too much to stop.

"Don't tell me you haven't told them?" she said with an evil laugh. "You've got two furies following you around and you haven't even told them you've got a thing fur?"

Sissy couldn't help but comment, as if sucked in by the curiosity.

"Matt likes fur?" she asked Rachel. She looked back at her with her smile still holding up. Matt felt like he was catch masturbating by his parents... if he actually _had_ parents.

"Oh _hell_ yeah." Rachel told her with another evil laugh. "Matt has a _huge_ thing for furies and everything that comes with them. He likes tails and animal ears, not to mention the feeling of fur according to some of his old girlfriends. Canines are apparently his favorite."

Sissy felt her tail twitch from excitement of such news. She did her best to hid it though as her ears twitched.

"H-he does?" she asked her. Rachel nodded with a wink.

"If I were you I'd watch yourself." Rachel told her as Matt stood there horrified. "He might just pounce on you if you're not careful and I can see why. As far as furies go, you're fairly cute."

Sissy blushed, hiding her face embarrassed.

"Um...thank you." she said shyly. Matt saw Emie was heartbroken. Matt like doggies more than humans? But Emie was a human just like him _and_ was a princess. Did he like Sissy more than her?

Matt could see her mouth tremble. Rachel leaned in the direction of Sissy, covering her mouth from Matt, but spoke loud enough for him to hear.

"He also likes getting licked in general according to an ex girlfriend of his." she whispered. "And I ain't just talking about...you know, down _there_, but all over and stuff..."

Sissy's eyes got wide from the information.

"R-really?..." Sissy responded with her ears twitching.

"AS I WAS SAYING," Matt interrupted loudly with his face nearly as red as a tomato from the embarrassment. "HER NAME IS SISSY AND SHE'S A GROWLITHE!" his arm thrusted towards Emie who was nearly in tears, believing that Matt didn't like her because she wasn't a 'furry' (or at least in her mind.)

"This is Emie." He told Rachel. "She's a Meow-er, um, _human._"

Rachel gave him a disappointed look.

"Don't you think it's a little pathetic to lie when we can all see that she's _clearly_ not a human." Rachel told him shaking her head side to side. Emie looked at Rachel distraught. W-what was she talking about? Matt quickly motioned for her to shut up, but Rachel didn't get the message, continuing on trying to humiliate Matt as much as possible.

"The last time I checked," Rachel told him sarcastically, "I didn't know humans were covered in fur, had cat ears, or even a tail. Not a least _really_ have them, I mean."

Emie sniffled, looking down at the tan fur on her arms with a frown, then looking at Matt and Rachel. They didn't have fur, but why did she? Emie reached for her pointed ears and pulled on them. Her ears certainly were different too, but she hadn't really thought about why they were until now. She reached around and grabbed her tail and stared at it. Matt didn't have a tail, but he was human...

Matt gave Rachel a dirty look.

"She thinks she's a human." her whispered to her in desperation. Emie's ears twitched, hearing him.

"She thinks she's a human?" Rachel blurted out loudly. "Is she retarded or something?"

"M-Meowth?" Emie said with tears running down her face. Matt was mortified, unable to stop the train wreck that was coming as Rachel looked over to her.

"I hate to break it to you, kitty cat," she said amused, "but you're far from human. You're a furry too. What on earth gave you the idea that you were human?"

Emie couldn't hold back anymore, letting out a cry with tears running down her face. She cried hysterically, getting up from the couch and running for one of the other vacant rooms as Matt opened his mouth to say something- anything. Before he could she slammed the room door closed with the sound of her crying coming from the other side.

Rachel shook her head and raised her eyebrows.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked confused. Sissy was still blushing from the information she had received. Matt's mouth hung open as if he were having a stoke. Rachel stood up with her backpack in hand. She yawned and looked around the VIP suite.

"As curious I am about the place and and everything," she said, "I'm sorta tired from looking for you." she gave a chuckle of amusement. "Shit, by the looks of everything you didn't really need my help after all, huh?"

Matt turned around and headed for the nearest wall. He leaned forward and started pounding his head against it. He heard Rachel come up behind him. Perhaps she had words of comfort to ease such a difficult and embarrassing situation?

"Which room can I take?" she asked. Matt pointed to the last vacant room, still pounding his head on the wall.

"Thanks." she said with pep, heading for the room She closed the door behind her as Matt continued to bash his head into the wall. He wanted to die.

Sissy was still sitting on the couch, soon standing up as she watched Matt. She opened her mouth to speak, getting flustered and shy. Thinking it was best not to say anything, she headed towards her room. Before fully entering, she turned to Matt and opened her mouth once again. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't say anything. She just gave a weak smile, closing her room door.

Matt had never been so humiliated in his entire life.

"What's going on?" Doug asked Darrell, who had his ear pressed again their VIP suite. Darrell squinted, trying to decipher what the banging noise was.

"I dunno." he told Doug. "All I could make out was something about someone being furry or something. Whatever that means."

Both of them were wearing repairmen outfits, being blue jumpsuits. Since they couldn't capture Sissy like they wanted to before at the restaurant (There were too many witnesses according to Darrell), they were now using their repairman tactic, trying to break into the room.

Darrell had his black hair combed fashionably to the side and had a fake mustache pasted on his upper lip. Doug was dress identically, however-

"You know," Doug told him, "I think it's getting a little ridiculous that I have to keep pretending to be a woman."

Yep. He was disguised a repair_woman_.

"I already told you it was the only extra one we frickin' had."

"But why did it have to be this size?" Doug protested, grabbing his fake boobs that were beneath the uniform. "I'm getting sick and tired of-"

Darrell put his hand up to stop him from talking and to listen.

"I hear moving from inside." Darrell told him. There was a silent pause. "I don't hear anything now..."

The door flung open, smashing both Darrell and Doug square in the face as Matt exited. Now fully clothed and with his hat and jacket on, he headed for the elevator as the door swung closed by itself, locking automatically. He was so distraught that he didn't even notice he pegged Darrell and Doug, whom were now lying on their backs in pain and holding their faces.

Matt got in an elevator with his money in his pocket along with his room key. There was no way he could go back to sleep after that. Emie was now balling her eyes out, Rachel was now there against his will, and Sissy...good god, she probably thought he was some sort of twisted freak who dry humped wildlife. He slammed the side of his head against the elevator wall as he pressed for the first floor. The doors closed and began to descend.

Doug and Darrell laid on the floor in pain with Doug looking over to Darrell, who was holding his face in agony.

"I don't think this plan would have worked either to be honest..." Doug wheezed. He patted his chest and felt his fake breasts. "At least these things sorta cushioned the blow a little..."

"Shut up..." Darrell groaned, still holding his face.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15**_

Humiliation was one of many words Matt was feeling as he exited the elevator on the first floor. Everything had been going well. He was having a deep moment with Sissy. She opened up to him and cried in his arms. Why did this shit have to happen so suddenly? Why couldn't Rachel have just stayed away from him. He felt anger consuming his senses. She fucking ruined everything.

He had to find something to distract his mind with. But how? What was the best way to occupy his troubled mind? With the directory of the Pokemon Center on the wall, he read down the list. The moment he found the word "arcade" and a direction to go in, he started walking where it told him to. Would an arcade even be open at five in the morning?

After a short walk down the hall with a few turns and weaves, Matt had found the arcade with ease. Sure enough, it was open. Not to mention was huge. He stepped inside, looking around at the hundreds of game machines lined against the walls. What was even more surprising was the fact that there were other trainers that were actually in there playing video games. Who the hell plays arcade games at five in the morning? Matt realized the irony of his judgment call considering he was one of those people.

There was a token machine next to a crane-game with stuff animals of Pokemon inside. He reached in his pocket and grabbed for his envelope of money. A wallet sounded like a good investment in the future, but for now an envelope would have to suffice. He put in a 500 bill (which in dollars would be $5), with a small rain of coins coming out of the machine. Matt pocketed the coins wondering what kind of games there were to play. Anything that would that pacify his troubled thoughts would be more than enough. He forced the thought of Emie crying and Sissy looking embarrassed out of his mind, hating Rachel all the more for ruining what was originally a peaceful night. Excluding the nightmares, of course.

Matt wandered around, watching a few trainers playing a fighting game, yanking on the control stick and slapping down on the buttons next to them. Someone cursed as they died in a shooter game, putting the gun back in the hostler part of the machine. The trainer who had lost at the game stormed off to play something less difficult. Matt stared at the game, seeing an animation of a manky in it's beast form holding a gun. It sorta looked like a pissed off chimp with pistol.

It looked kinda fun.

"Hey." a voice said from behind him. Matt turned, seeing three trainers all dressed in white windbreakers with teal strips going down the sides of them. All three of them had their arms crossed trying to imitate wannabe thugs. The guy in the middle was wearing a white beanie with the other two by his sides looking identical, having black hair and slanted eyes.

"You're the punk who beat Jimmy, aren't you?" the guy with the beanie said. Matt raised an eyebrow, clearly in no mood for this kind of shit.

"And what if I am?" he asked. The guy with the beanie pointed his finger at him.

"Nobody beats our boss and get away with that shit!" he told him. The two guys by his sides agreed in unison. They were making a scene with some of the other trainers looking over from their games to see what was going on. Matt put his hand on his head with a sigh.

"Look," he said not really giving a damn about any of them, "it's been a real shitty morning for me and I don't feel like wasting my time with you guys."

"Oh no you don't!" the guy with the beanie yelled. "You've disrespected our bro and you're gonna get what's coming to you!"

Matt rolled his eyes.

"Oh, for fuck sake," he groaned. "would you just leave me alone already? Besides, I don't have any of my Pokemon on me."

"I'm not talking about battling with Pokemon." the guy with the beanie told him. "I'm challenging you to a game!"

"Yeah!" the guy on the right said.

"Bet you're scared now!" the other added.

Matt looked at them as if they were joking.

"Oh, yeah," Matt said sarcastically, "I'm shaking in my shoes."

They didn't think he was funny at all.

"I'll beat you at any game you choose in this place." The guy with the beanie said. "I'll wager 1000 Tabs I can beat you."

Were these guys for real? Matt figured it didn't matter what he did or said, these guys were going to keep bugging them until they got the 'revenge' for their 'bro' that they so badly craved. Matt rolled his eyes once again and sighed.

"Fine." Matt said looking around. "1000 Tabs it is."

He looked around the room, seeing a punching bag out of the corner of his eye. It was a game called 'Hitmonchan's Revenge.' and looked like you had to punch the bag as hard as you can and as fast as you can in order to get a high score. He pointed at it with a shrug.

"How about that one?" Matt asked. The gang in white looked at each other and smiled.

"You've lost already and you don't even know it." the guy with the beanie said with a smirk. Matt wasn't really paying attention to him, nodding along with whatever he said.

"Yeah," he said wandering over to the machine with them, "I bet you will."

The guy in the beanie stopped in front of the game. The punching bag was hanging from the machine with a score keeper was above it for everyone to see in plain view. One of the guy's cronies put in a token with the guy in the beanie lifting his fists as if he were a professional.

"Watch and learn!" he said. The guy punched the bag, lobbing his elbow with the punch. Actually it was more like an open handed slap by the way he hit it. Matt watched the score go from zero to 50 with the timer beside it counting down from 60 seconds. They guy kept punching the bag the best he could, letting out a yell every once in a while to show he meant business. A small crowd of trainers, being about four, watched him punch away. Matt had his hand up to his chin as he watched him go to town.

With only eight more seconds to go, the guy started whaling on the bag, hitting both of his arms at it with sweat forming on his face. The buzzer rang with the final score of 5,400 flashing. Some of the trainers watching gave a root for his performance. The guy with the beanie gave a bow, then looked over to see Matt.

He was hunched over laughing silently with his shoulders jerking up with each held in laugh. He looked up letting out a few laughs with everyone wondering what was so funny to him.

Matt walked up to the machine and put in a token as the guy with the beanie stepped back and watched him lift up his fists. Skeptical at first, the guy in the beanie was almost certain he had already won. Nobody was gonna be that score.

The game said go with Matt's first punch being so hard that the machine shook. Matt punched with his other fist doing another powerful bow. One after another, Matt unloaded jabs and punches to the bag at a frightening speed. And they weren't week shots either. The guy with the beanie watched him pound away in disbelief. With only a few seconds to go, Matt pulled his fist back and smashed into. The hit was so hard an imprint of his knuckles was left in the bag. Matt looked up at the score keeper to see what he got. 42,460 points.

Matt stepped away with the trainers all clapping and cheering. The guy wearing the beanie looked at Matt as if he were some sort of freak of nature. He grinned at the guy in the beanie, still trying to remain as modest as possible.

"I probably should have let you know that I'm an amateur boxer." Matt told him trying to hold back the urge to rub his victory in his face. He was bigger than doing that though, even if the prick deserved it. Matt extended his hand with the guy in the beanie handing over the 1000 Tabs as promised. He folded the bill up and slipped it in his pocket, not bothering to put it in the envelope.

Defeat was written all over the guy's face with his henchmen by his sides unable to look at anyone in shame. Being the sportsman that he was, Matt put a hand on the guy's shoulder.

"Dude," he told him, "don't let it get to you. It's just a game."

Expecting him to fly off the handle like Jimmy had done, the guy took him by surprise and gave a weak smile even in his defeat.

"Yeah," he said still a little disappointed that he had lost. "I guess you're right. You know, you don't seem like your an asshole like Jimmy told us you were."

Matt shrugged, taking his hand off of the guys shoulder.

"I'd be nice if he believed that." Matt said a with a sigh. The guy with the beanie told his small crew to follow him. The three goons left the arcade without looking back. Matt could hear someone standing behind him.

"I could have done _way_ better than you." he heard someone say behind him.

Matt nearly flipped out on whoever it was that was trying to upset him. He swung around and opened his mouth to bitch out whoever it was. He froze, seeing that it was Amber. She was the worker he had gotten to know when he came in for the first time. With her dyed orange bangs and a warm smile, she stood there before him wearing a black hoodie, sweet pants, and white sneakers. She wasn't wearing her nurse uniform like before.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her. She laughed sticking out her hip and resting her hand on it.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." She giggled. "You realize it's five in the morning, right?"

Matt sighed with frustration of what had previously happened upstairs less than an hour ago.

"I guess you could say I got unwanted company." he told her. "What's your excuse for being up so early."

"I live here." she told him with a smile and her hip still out. "It's one of the perks of working at a Pokemon Center like this. It's my day off and I always get up early."

Matt looked around him at all of the video games.

"Do you always play in the arcade at this hour?" he asked her interested. She created a thinking face and cocked her head to one side, the same side her hip was sticking out to. Finally, she just kinda shrugged unsure.

"Sometimes I guess." she told him. "Other times I just go visit the pool or weight room like I was going to this morning, but I sorta felt like playing some games instead. That's why I'm wearing such an unflattering outfit. If I knew you'd be hear I would have worn something a little more impressive."

She gave him a wink. He smiled back at her, feeling a little better.

"That's very flattering," he told her, "thank you."

Amber shook her head and pointed at the score on the game he just played.

"No," she told him, "_that's_ flattering. I didn't know anyone could kick that much ass at that game."

Matt put his hands in his pockets and shrugged coyly.

"Eh," he said as if it were nothing. "like I told that guy, I'm an amateur boxer so I've had a bit of practice at punching things."

He had more than just a _bit_ of practice. He knew it, and by the way Amber saw him punching that bag, she knew it too. Flipping a token off her thumb and catching it, Amber looked at Matt, seeing that there was something a little different from before she had originally met him. To her he looked like he had something bothering him.

"So what's this about unwanted company?" she asked him. Matt wasn't sure if he should tell her. Would she even want to listen to such a long and complicated explanation?

"I wouldn't want to bore you." he told her. She grabbed him by the wrist and walked him over to one of the games with a smirk.

"You won't bore me." she told him. "Besides, you still have to tell me the rest of your story like you promised you would."

Well, he did tell her he'd finish telling her the story about what he had been through so far. He might as well if she was that interested.

The two of them played games for a while as he was wrapping up his story.

"And then I had Emie run off crying into one of the other rooms." he told her. Amber frowned, a little amazed by all the crap Matt had been through in the past few days.

"Damn," she said as she jerked around one of the joysticks on the game they were playing together. "talk about a cock-block."

Matt was caught off guard by her bluntness, getting his character killed on accident.

"I guess you could call it that." he told her, wondering if it was a bad idea that he told her about having sex with Emie. Amber didn't seem to really hold anything against him, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal if he had or not.

"Your friend Rachel sounds like a real piece of work." Amber said. "She's probably jealous that you have so many attractive woman flocking to you at once." She let out a little laugh with Matt looking over at him. Was she flirting with him?  
"I highly doubt it." he told her honestly. "It didn't help when she started telling Sissy about my fetishes either."

Amber glanced over at him curious as to what said fetishes were.

"And what might those be?" she inquired eagerly.

Matt couldn't believe that he felt comfortable enough to tell her. Something about Amber though made him feel like he could tell her anything without fearing repercussion.

"Well," he said taking his time. "have you ever heard of what a furry is?"

Amber thought about it, finally shaking her head as her game character did a back flip-kick.

"I'm not familiar with what that is, I'm afraid."

Matt took a deep breath, starting to explain what it was. He expressed his fondness for anthropomorphism, saying that he found tails and other animistic qualities to be attractive. He half expected to get a disturbed look from Amber. As if it were nothing she gave him a friendly smile.

"That's really not that uncommon." she told him. "I don't see what the big deal is."

Matt sighed, preforming a combo move with his character.

"Maybe not in this universe," he told her as he mashed buttons on the machine, "but if you were to tell most people that in my universe they'd think you were into bestiality or something."

That comment almost made Amber snort with laughter by accident.

"Anthropomorphism from bestiality is quite a jump from each other in my opinion." she told him. "In fact, I'm sorta into that stuff myself, believe it or not."

Matt looked at her doubtfully. She noticed his expression and responded with another haughty smirk.

"Don't assume I'm just feeding you a line." she laughed. "Go ahead, test me."

Matt wasn't exactly sure how to test her for having a furry fetish, or even know what she meant by testing her, but had a question pop into his head that might be interesting to ask.

"Okay," he said, almost ashamed to ask such a sexual question, "if you could have sex with any kind of Pokemon, what kind would it be?"

"A Raticate." she told him right off the bat without hesitation. Her response time certainly was impressive. It was definitely an interesting response too considering he owned one. The idea of her getting dirty with his Raticate in an anthropomorphic form made him feel a little guilty.

"And why is that?" he asked. She did a power move, pressing multiple buttons.

"They're buff for one thing, have an incredible endurance, and surprising are very loyal and loving. Not to mention they've got huge dicks- and I'm talking like 12 inches."

Matt's character died as he was caught off guard once again by Amber's response. It was almost scary how open she was about that kind of stuff with him.

"You sound like you know a lot about this." he chuckled awkwardly. A smug smile grew on her face.

"Working at a Pokemon Center certainly has it's perks." she said with pride. Matt stopped playing, with his character dying once more. She looked at him with a laugh, shaking her head.

"Before you ask," she said, "no I didn't do anything with your Raticate; I don't work like that."

Matt didn't think she did, which only made him worry even more about where he mind had headed.

"I was stationed at a small town a year ago and had some friends take me up to a ranch. Needless to say, I sorta met a Raticate that was pent up a little more than he liked and I was a little overdue for some fun myself. I tell you, that was one hell of a weekend."

Matt wasn't even playing anymore as his character died for the last time. He was too busy staring at her with wide eyes. Was there anything Amber _wasn't_ open about? With her character finally dying for the last time too, their game was over. She glance over at Matt with a smile.

"I hate to play and run," she told him, "but I probably should go work out for a least a little while. I need to work out my legs and I'm already in these clothes anyway. I'll catch you around though, right?"

Matt smiled back at her.

"Of course." he told her, feeling as if he had gained a new friend. Her smile only grew when he told her that. Without much of a warning, she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She pulled her head back and left with a wave. Matt blushed a little and was taken by surprise. He watched her walk out of the arcade, wondering why someone as cute as her would be interested in someone as flawed as himself.

"_Jeez, is everyone into basket cases?_" he wondered.

Putting his thoughts aside, Matt checked the time on his phone to see that it was nearly seven. As much as he dreaded going back upstairs, he felt he sorta had to. Reluctantly exiting the arcade, Matt thought to himself with his mind still wandering. As shameful as it may have been, he was curious to know what Amber must have looked like while having sex on top of a Raticate in it's anthropomorphic form. Oddly enough, it was sorta sexy...


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter 16**_

"Hey, wake up!"

Whack!

Matt opened his eyes and instinctively reached for his head in pain. He had forgotten where he was for moment. After coming into the VIP suite he had fallen asleep afterward on the couch. Rachel, wearing a black shirt that hugged tight against her nearly flat chest and jeans that showed the definition and curves of her legs and hips, was standing in front of him with a spatula in her hand. She had hit him so hard that he wasn't sure if she hit him with her hand or the spatula.

"I asked you a question." she told Matt as he rubbed his sore head. He looked over, seeing that his hat was sitting beside him. Putting it on backwards like he had been previously wearing it before, Rachel waited for an answer.

"What was the question?" he asked still coming too, sitting up on the couch.

"I asked how many eggs you wanted." she told him. Matt started to smell something cooking. Was he still dreaming?

"What eggs?" he asked her. "I didn't buy any eggs..."

Rachel got annoyed with him, walking around the couch and back to the kitchen.

"That's because _I_ went out with Sissy this morning and bought some along with some other stuff at a farmers market in town. They had some good stuff too."

Matt stood up, patting his pants pockets. His envelope was still there. Rachel was over the stove top cooking away, looking over to Matt as if disappointed with his reaction.

"I didn't take your money." she said insulted. "I used my own."

Matt blinked, looking around to room. Sissy was eating at a table that folded out from the wall near the kitchen. Emie was nowhere to be seen.

"With what money?" Matt asked her as if she were lying to him. Flipping over some bacon, Rachel looked over at Matt with a smirk.

"I used my head and pawned some old jewelry that I never wear anymore." she told him proud of herself "I already figured they weren't going to be accepting dollar bills, you know, since the whole different dimension thing. I got a lot of money too, like, over 30,000...what do they call them? Tibs?"

"Tabs." Matt corrected. He looked over at Sissy who was in mid chewing motion. She quickly swallowed to give him a bit of her own input.

"Your friend is a very good bargainer." Sissy told him sounding very impressed. "I watched her haggle with some of the pawn shop owners like a professional. It sounds as if she'll be very useful on our journey."

Matt didn't like the sound of Rachel being with them on their adventure to find Bill. He walked around the couch and over towards the stove top Rachel was cooking on. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, only going down to about her upper back. It was an auburn color. It made Matt a little uneasy how well she was handling all of this change.

"You seem like you've gotten adjusted a little faster than I would have expected." Matt said a little impressed. "When I came here I could hardly get over everything."

Rachel looked at him with a half frown as she moved around some eggs in a frying pan.

"You remember that time Otto invited us to Florida for that convention he was hosting?" she asked him. Matt remembered distinctly.

"A little too well." he admitted.

"Ever since then I've come to pretty much accept things the way they are." she said while still cooking indefinitely. "I don't think anything can really catch me off guard after that incident."

Matt agreed with her. Sissy frowned, wondering what on earth they were talking about.

"What happened?" she asked them. Matt looked at her with a serious face.

"Let's just say our friend accidentally created a virus that had certain effects on the dead." Matt told her, remembering what had happened. It would have been much more of a scaring experience if it had gotten out of hand. Thank god for emergency fire axes...

"Your friend sounds like he's intelligent." Sissy told them honestly. "I've never known anyone other than Bill who could devise such a device to send people other dimensions."

She had finished her breakfast, grabbing her plate and heading over to the kitchen sink with Rachel getting a chuckle out of that.

"Even if he's got a big brain," she told her, "he's still a dumbass in my books."

Matt rolled his eyes at her. Wondering where Emie was, Matt glanced at the room she had run into last night. He was wondering how long she had been in there, or even if she still _was_ in there. Bill's name caught Rachel's interest.

"Yeah," she told Matt, "I've been meaning to ask who this Bill guy is. Otto was talking about him and said he could help you get back. Well, technically get _us_ back now since I'm here with you now too."

Matt explained to her how Mom had told him about Bill and how he could possibly get them home. Rachel let the information bounce around in her head a little, putting the pieces of the metaphorical puzzle together.

"So if we can find Bill then we can most likely get back home." Rachel said aloud. "But it's gonna take a while to get there it sounds like. Good thing I quit my job; I don't have to worry about getting back anytime soon then."

Matt almost misheard her, but considering that she was now in this mess with him it wasn't like it mattered much whether or not she quit. While she cooked she explained to Matt that she went home early that morning, got her things, called her father (at three in the morning) and let him know she had very important business to take of that would be making her leave the 'country' for a few months, and politely asked him to pay for the rent of the time being. If anyone else had told Matt this he would have disbelieved them in a second. Since it was Rachel, he knew she was serious.

"I don't understand why you got yourself into this mess." Matt told her as she turned off the stove top when she finished cooking. "It was my mistake and I'm the one who was supposed to fix it. By myself."

Rachel shoved a plate of food to him. Taking it from her a little hesitatingly, he saw that she didn't like what he had told her.

"You're so full of shit I'm surprised your eyes aren't brown." she told him harshly. She pointed over to Sissy who's ears perked up, now sitting at the foldout table again.

"If you're doing this all by yourself then why do you have people who care about you with you? And before you tell me that Sissy was forced to- she already told me everything that happened this morning when we went shopping- you and I both know that she _really_ didn't have to. You could have just declined her trainers offer. But you didn't. And that cat, what is she called? Ei-Me?"

"Emie." Sissy corrected. "She's a Meowth."

"Thank you Sissy." Rachel said politely. It seemed the two of them were getting along fairly well. "As I was saying, Emie from what I've heard from Sissy really cares about you." She gave him smug grin. "And from what I was told you care about her too. If you didn't you wouldn't have boned her in the shower like you did."

Matt's face flushed red with Sissy's doing the same. He looked at Sissy, who in return gave an apologetic frown with her ears lowered. She didn't know it was something she should have hid from Rachel. By the look on Matt's anguished face, she realized it was too late for an apology.

"And what about me?" Rachel asked him, patting her chest. "Don't act like me coming here was a mistake. We've been friends ever since I can remember and I've always had your back."

"Yeah," Matt said irritably, "when you weren't busy punching, hitting, or otherwise humiliating me."

Rachel shrugged with modest sigh.

"Fine," she told him, "just remember that we're in this together now, whether you like it or not. I came to help you out because I care about you, even if you don't think so."

Matt got a laugh out of that.

"I could tell how much you cared when you thought it was a good idea to joke about me not having parents." Matt told her harshly.

Rachel frowned at him, feeling regret for what she had told him a few days ago.

"I didn't mean to say that before." she apologized. "It just...sorta slipped out."

Matt stood there with he plate of food she had made him, tossing it down on the kitchen counter. He adjusted his hat with some of his hair in the front wiggling a little as it stuck out.

"If you'll excuse me," he told her harshly, "I need to take care of some business."

Sissy was about to speak, but was cut off by Rachel.

"I said I was sorry." Rachel told him frowning. Matt gave her a dirty look, pointing towards the room Emie was most likely still crying in.

"Before you go apologizing," Matt spat. "how about you fix things with Emie. God knows what she's going through right now thanks to you."

He turned around, but was stopped by Rachel grabbing onto his wrist.

"Wait," she told him, "what if she gets pissed at me or something?"

Matt yanked his arm away from her.

"Not my problem." he told her walking towards the door. Sissy finally forced herself to say something to Matt.

"Um, Matt?" she asked him. He turned his head, still feeling a little embarrassed to look at her after what Rachel had told her about his sexual preferences.

"Y-yeah?" he asked her feeling warm around the collar of his shirt. Sissy kept a straight face, trying to stay professional.

"May I go with you?" she asked him. Matt saw her holding her hands by her side more stiff than usual. It was like she were afraid to make any unnecessary movements, like she were walking in a minefield. Why was she so self conscious about asking if she could go with him?

"_Probably because she thinks I'm some sick pervert._" Matt thought to himself. Sissy swallowed hard feeling herself getting a little shaky.

"_He probably thinks I'm pathetic for wanting to be with him._" she thought to herself.

"If you want to." he told her. "I'm just going to buy a few things and get some information on the Viridian forest."

"That's fine." she told him, quickly trying to catch herself. "I don't mean that it's fine as in you have my permission, or that I didn't think it was okay in the first place, I- um- just think that it's a fine idea to go out and buy stuff- or supplies- um..." She shut up, clearly flustered.

Matt thought that she was nervous about going with him after the comments Rachel made about him possibly 'pouncing' on her.

Sissy thought Matt must think she was an idiot for tripping over her own words.

She lowered her head and coughed.

"So...it's okay that I go with you?" she asked. Matt smiled at her.

"Of course it's okay."

She smiled too, following over to him to the door. Rachel was still trying to think of something to say that would convince Matt to not have her disturb Emie in her emotionally fragile state.

"Are you sure I should be dealing with Emie?" Rachel asked Matt, praying he'd tell her he'd do it instead. Matt only gave her a cold look before leaving with Sissy.

The door closed behind them with Rachel swearing to herself.

She looked over at the room Emie was currently in, not sure what her plan of action was going to be.

In a fetal ball, Emie laid on the room's large bed in tears. The wads of tissue paper were still crammed in her nostrils with dried and crusted blood soaked into each other them. She was so depressed that she didn't even bother to take them out, just staring at the wall in front of her. Her tail was between her legs and was holding it close to her like a security blanket.

Life had been twisted upside-down. She wasn't a human. She was a Meowth like everyone had told her. Matt had told her. Rachel had told her. Even Mikhail had told her. So did Avie. Chances were she wasn't a princess either. Was it bad that she ran away from her home? Her sanctuary? Even if she didn't like it there she at least had her peace of mind. Not to mention her coloring books. Another tear fell from her face onto the bed. Her memories of her home made her cry even more. One memory specifically reminded her of one of the reasons why she had left in the first place.

He had been on top of her. She was crying, afraid of what was going on. He had been watching her squirm helplessly, struggling for him to stop doing what he was doing. It hurt and left her privates bleeding after the first time. Even with tears and sounds of pain he kept right at it, keeping his pelvic rhythm going. It was what "love" was, Mikhail had told her.

Emie never liked her old master. He left her in the attic of his large home with Avie. The two of them would constantly be fighting over things. Avie would try to take Emie's coloring books away from her. Even when Emie tried to share with her, Avie wouldn't want to. Everything Emie had she wanted. Everything Emie was she wanted to be. What really annoyed Emie was how Avie followed her around everywhere and copied what she did.

Every day was the same. Emie would wake up in the attic with Avie, fighting with each other until noon. That's when Mikhail would come up to the attic to have sex with Emie. He didn't even care that Avie was there, he just did it anyway.

The first few times hurt, but after a while Emie got used to it. It didn't take him very long to finish, leaving her on the floor the way she was. Neither Avie or Emie had clothes and were pretty much treated like pets. Emie never orgasmed from their "love," soon believing that's how it was supposed to be. He taught her how to do certain acts, making her accustomed to the "love" making. Love seemed like such a hollow thing. Not wanting to live such an empty life, Emie decided to run away. It wasn't until two years later when she had stumbled into Matt.

After odd adventures and mishaps, Emie was now finally in the position of not being able to obtain food, starving to death. She had traveled south towards Pallet, but stopped to live in the wild. She couldn't catch any birds there and Pigdeys were _out_ of the question after they had nearly killed her a few times.

She was resting in a tree with her stomach paining her. That was when she saw something red out of the corner of her eye. It was a strange young man in a dark red jacket and hat with a funny looking Growlithe in a gray dress thingy. The instant she smelt food she jumped from the tree, demanding he hand over what he was eating.

After she had gotten to know Matt, even for the shortest of times, she was intrigued by him. The way he was confident and how nice he treated her. He talked to her as they walked to Viridian and made her feel as if she were special. He was nothing like Mikhail. She began to question what feeling she was having for him. It was a mixture of happiness and fondness. But it was more than just that. The emotion she was experiencing was love, but never understood it until Matt had sat her down on the couch and began to explain how he felt.

The moment he kissed her she began to understand what love truly was. He had done so much for her even in the short time they had gotten to know each other, wanting to do something for him that would make him feel just as special. The only thing she could think of was the "love" Mikhail had given her. Even if she was afraid, she was still going to do that for Matt. He was worth it.

But when the two of them were having sex her perception on the act had _completely_ changed. The way he moved his body with hers; the way he was so gentle and caring. She had never felt so incredible before. He _actually_ loved her.

But now that was gone. Everything had changed since she was convinced she wasn't human. Matt couldn't have really loved her for the way she was. She was a Meowth and he was a human. Another session of crying began again as she laid there on the bed.

Her ears twitched when she heard the bedroom door open. He sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes, turning around to see the woman who had magically appeared before in the early hours of the morning.

Rachel saw Emie had been crying still. Shit, was she pissed at her? Surprisingly, Emie just laid back down with her back facing Rachel as if she weren't even there. With a small sigh of relief that her neck wasn't going to be torn out by the Meowth, Rachel had to think of something to say. Maybe some words of encouragement might be in order?

"Crying isn't going to help." she told her, instantly regretting her poor choice of words. Emie didn't even budge from her comment. She just lied there, wanting to die. Rachel took a few cautious steps forward towards the bed. It took some courage to sit down next to her as Emie sniffled and quietly cried to herself. Rachel sucked at cheering people up and she knew it. But by some miracle she had to set things right or Matt was going to hate her more than he already did.

"I'm sorry about this morning, kitty cat." she told her with her hands in her lap. Rachel heard her sniffle with her tears momentarily stopping. Slowly sitting up, she turned to face Rachel. She pulled her knees close to her with her arms holding her legs and her tail wrapped up close to her. Another tear ran down her face as she watched Rachel sit there next to her awkwardly.

"Look," Rachel sighed, "I'm not the greatest when it comes to other people's feeling. I didn't mean to say what I did last night."

Emie frowned, putting her face against her knees. It wasn't like it mattered. She was a Meowth and nothing could change that. Rachel could tell she wasn't doing a good job cheering her up.

"I'm a terrible person," Rachel told her, "and I suck when it comes to making people feel better. But I accept who I am. And you should accept the fact that you're a Meowth. There's nothing wrong with being different."

Emie looked as her and shook her head. She mimed putting something on her head, then twisting it backwards and then proceeded to make the shape of a heart with her hands. It took Rachel a while after her brain went into overdrive to try and understand what she was saying.

"Shit, that's right." Rachel said. "Sissy told me you couldn't talk. Are you trying to tell me something?"

Emie gave a frustrated sigh, making the twisting hat motion once again along with the heart shape with her hands. Rachel wasn't as good as Matt was when it came to understanding Emie.

"Something about...Matt?" Rachel asked. Emie nodded. "And a heart..." Rachel put her hand on her head, tapping it as if to get it to work. "Matt and hearts... Heart and Matt. Oh, wait, are you saying you love Matt?"

Emie nodded with another tear running down her face.

"So?" Rachel asked her not understanding what was wrong with that. Emie motion ripping the heart she had made with her hands. Rachel had to think harder than she ever had to in her life.

"I think you're telling me you either broke his heart or that he doesn't love you."

Emie nodded at the latter of the two.

"But why?" Rachel asked her. "Why wouldn't Matt love you?"

Emie frowned with her ears drooping, grabbing her tail and pointing at it. That was all it took for the light bulb in Rachel's head to turn up.

"You think that Matt doesn't love really love you because you're not a human?"

Emie sniffled with the tissues in her nose finally falling out and landing on the bad. A little disturbed by the dried blood from them, Rachel batted them off the bed trying not to touch them. She looked up to Emie and started laughing.

"Sweetheart," she told her, "if anything that would make Matt love you even more."

Emie blinked, not sure what she meant.

"Matt is really into the whole furry thing." she reminded her. "Technically, you yourself are a furry. Besides-"

Rachel stopped herself with a sad sigh.

"Matt cares about people even if they are different or treat him poorly; I should know. No matter what you do he's always going to be there for you and, according to Sissy, he really likes you. It's gonna take a lot more than for you to be different for Matt to not actually love you."

Emie didn't know what to think, not completely convinced. Then again, Rachel had a point. Matt still treated her well and loved her for who she was, even though she wasn't a human. Why would he do all of that for her if he didn't like her in the first place? Nothing had changed except now Emie accepted the fact that she was a Meowth.

Rachel stood up from the bed, still looking at Emie.

"Matt went out to do some shopping with Sissy," she told her. "so it looks like it's just the two of us for now. Did you have anything you'd wanna do."

Emie looked at her blankly with nothing really coming to mind. Rachel randomly snapped her fingers, remembering what she had brought with her.

"Hey I know," Rachel told her. "I've got some movies I brought with me. You feel like watching something?"

Emie tilted her head, shrugging. She really had never watched many movies, or television in general. Mikhail rarely let them downstairs in his home. Most of the time he was watching some weird show with people wearing funny hats and riding horses.

Rachel put her hand on her chin. That red tank top Emie was wearing reminded her of something.

"That shirt of yours looks a lot like the Bride's. Not to mention we're looking for a guy named Bill. Man, that's ironic."

Emie looked at her funny. Rachel had almost forgotten that they were from different dimensions.

"You like action, right?" Rachel asked her.

Emie gave a weak smile followed by a slight nod.

"I think I have a few movies you'll like." She said confidently.

Emie was sat down on the couch with a plate of breakfast (originally meant for Matt) as Rachel was fiddling with things in the cabinet beneath the flat screen. Thankfully, this dimension had DVD players. In her hand, Rachel had two movies: Kill Bill volume 1 and volume 2. Even though she was mostly into more romantic movies, Rachel from time to time like something with a little more action. Besides, the Kill Bill movies were one of her favorites.

With a mouth full of bacon, Emie watched Rachel put the first disc in. The movie start playing, heading to the title screen. The sound of a woman whistling a song made her ears twitch. It sounded really pretty. Rachel walked back to the couch with the remote in her hand.

"I think you'll like this movie." Rachel told her, hitting the play button.

The streets of Viridian weren't that crowd, especially in the market district. There were venders trying to sell their things outside next to stores with their doors wide open. With a plethora of things to be offered, it was a little intimidating. Matt and Sissy walked side by side, making there way through the streets. Matt now had his Raticate back after being healed, keeping it's Pokeball in his jacket pocket along with Sissy and Emie's ball. Matt and Sissy didn't say that much, both still a little awkward around each other.

"Okay," Matt said directed at himself with Sissy hearing him, "I need some potions, Pokeballs, food, and...what else?" He turned to Sissy who quickly looked away down the street. "Do you have any idea where we could find a shop that sells those kinds of things?"

Sissy had to think about it. Pallet was such a small town that it really only had one store, which pretty much have everything her and Mom needed. She finally looked back at him, trying her best not to be awkward around him.

"I'm not sure." she told him. Matt looked around on the street they were on. Maybe he could ask someone? He turned to Sissy, seeing that she was no longer by his side. Almost panicking like a parent loosing their child, he looked around the small crowd. Her ears made it easy from him to spot her. Not to mention she was the only Growlithe wearing a kimono. Well, she was the _only_ Growlithe. Hell, she was the only _pokemon_ in the crowd actually.

She was staring at something in the window of a shop. Matt approached her, wondering what it was that had gotten her attention. He walked up beside her, checking the window to find a beautiful dress on display. It looked like a kimono, but looked like it was made out a silk instead of a cotton like Sissy's. It had a label beneath the dress, saying it was called a "yukata." Maybe it was called that since it was made from a different material, Matt wondered.

It was black with dark red flames coming from the bottom up, creating a beautiful design.

Sissy didn't realize that Matt had stopped with her and was staring at it. She was surprised, getting embarrassed that he had seen her window shopping.

"S-sorry," she told him, "shall we continue our shopping."

Matt saw the price, seeing that it was 5000 tabs.

"Yeah," he told her looking away from the window, "let's go see if we can find ourselves a place that sells what we need."

Continuing on their search, Sissy looked down at the street with a subtle sigh. Matt saw it, but acted like he didn't. Matt reached in his Pocket and pulled out the envelope of money along with the 1000 tabs that he had won earlier that morning. He started counting it.

He had started off with 20,000 tabs. After he had beat Jimmy he was awarded 23,000 tabs, making a total of 43,000. Matt had spent 1,500 tabs on dinner that night as well as 500 on arcade games, but then won back 1,000 when some of Jimmy's friends challenged him. In total, Matt had 42,000 tabs. In dollars, that was 420 bucks.

Sissy looked at Matt and opened her mouth, but quickly looked away. He looked over to her, wondering what was on her mind.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her. She looked back up at him, shaking her head. They passed a stall selling pears with a guy shouting out that his prices were unbeatable along with another stall trying to sell necklaces. Matt told himself not to pry with Sissy.

A store with the sign reading 'Trainer's Delight' on it made him stop. In the window were Pokeballs in a basket, some of which were different colors and models. Sissy and Matt stopped, with him pointing out the shop to her.

"Look's like they've got what we need." Matt said aloud.

Matt and Sissy entered the store with a bell above the door jingling. A man was sitting at the counter reading something; it looked like a comic book. He glanced up nervously. The moment he saw Sissy he almost fell off the stool he was sitting on. He shot up, backing against the wall.

"I swear," he cried, "I don't have your money!"

Matt and Sissy looked at each other confused, then back at the man who was panicking.

"Excuse me?" Matt asked. The man was taking deep breathes caused by fear, slowly calming down when he realized that Matt wasn't one of them. He put his hand on his chest and let out a sigh of relief. His hands had scabs and scars on them that looked like they'd been stabbed.

"Thank god." he managed to say. "I swore you were with the Brothers."

Matt squinted at him along with Sissy, who's hand was naturally resting on the handle of her bokuto. Shaking his head, Matt confirmed that he wasn't with the 'Brothers'.

"I just came to buy some supplies." Matt admitted. That in itself was even more of a shock to the man at the counter.

"R-really?" he stuttered. "I haven't had a normal customer in almost a month. Or a least ever since those bastards started scaring off my customers."

Matt looked around the store. Even with it's wide selection of things there was nobody else inside besides the owner.

"What bastards?" Sissy asked him. The owner gave her a small smile, realizing that she had a talker collar.

"I haven't seen a Pokemon out of their ball, let alone have a Talker, in a long time." the owner of the store looked at Matt with a a hint of respect in his gaze.

"What's her will setting at?" he asked. Matt thought that was an odd question to randomly ask.

"She's a green." he told her. "I have a Meowth back at my place in the Pokemon Center at green too."

The owner didn't know if he were telling the truth or not. Sissy nodded her head.

"He's not lying." she told him. "My trainer is very skilled."

Matt looked at her funny. What was with her all of a sudden? No insults? No negative comments? The complement actually scared him a little, but tried not to let it get to him.

"If your trainer has that much ability, I'd say so." The owner chuckled. "I mostly get, or had, trainers who could hardly have a Pokemon out on blue-green for more than a few hours. Most of them just keep'em in their Pokeballs." The owner gave Matt and amused chuckle, seeing the bulges in his jacket pockets. "I see you don't have a Pokebelt for your Pokeballs either."

Matt didn't know what the hell a Pokebelt was, but considering that he didn't have one regardless if he didn't even knew what it was in the first place, he shook his head. The owner reached under the counter, pulling out a brown belt with loops on the side that looked like they were meant for holding Pokeballs. Matt and Sissy approached the counter as the man handed it over to Matt so he could look at it.

The belt was well made and looked nice. The belt buckle was a crimson color.

"Considering your look," the man said, "I thought that color of the buckle would suit you, assuming if you even wanted it."

Matt definitely could use something that would be more accessible than having his Pokeballs either crammed in his jacket or jean pockets. He looked at the owner, seeing the wrinkles on his weathered face.

"How much is it?" Matt asked him. The owner started to rubbed the side of his chin as he thought about it. _Shit_, Matt thought to himself,_ the old bastard is probably gonna try and take me for all I'm worth._

"It's really not that much." the owner told him truthfully. "And I haven't actually had a customer in over a month. Ah, to hell with it. You can have it for free. I haven't been able to sell'em lately anyway."

Matt thought he had misheard him, rubbing his ear.

"Come again?"

"Just take it." the owner chuckled. "It's pretty much worthless to me anyhow."

Matt didn't know what to think of the man's generosity. However, it was never wise to look a gift horse in the mouth. Accepting his offer, Matt nodded with a smile.

"Thank you very much." he told him. The man wafted his hand in front of him as if it were nothing.

"Don't mention it." he said to him. "I'm just glad I got _someone_ to come into my shop without being scared off by the Brothers."

With him mentioning that name again, Sissy had to wonder what he was talking about.

"Who are they?" she asked. The man at the counter turned his head to her, smiling at such a lovely young Growlithe with voice that sounded sweeter than honey itself. It made such a distasteful conversation slightly better to hear her voice.

"They're just some street punks who think they run this town." he explained to her with a small smirk. "I wish I could say there weren't a threat to my business, but as it is I've hardly been managing to pay the bills after I refused to pay them 'protection' money. They've had a tendency to spook off the trainers that visited my shop."

"What about the local authorities?" Matt asked him. "Have you reported what's been going on to them?"

The owner thought that was a funny joke. It gave him a good laugh too.

"They don't give a damn about us shop owners." he told him. "They're more worried about protecting the damn tourists, no offense or anything."

"None taken." Matt assured him. "Although, I didn't realize Viridian had that many tourists coming through it."

The owner gave him a bewildered look. How could someone _not_ know why they were got so many tourists?

"I don't mean to sound rude," the owner chuckled, "but have you been living under a rock or something?"

Matt felt a little embarrassed by his lack of knowledge. It wasn't like he could just straight up tell him he was from some other dimension. Sissy however came to his rescue to save him from the embarrassment.

"What my trainer meant is that he didn't realize so many tourists would be coming through Viridian at this season." Sissy lied. "We're from Pallet and were unaware so many people would be traveling to the Indigo Plateau this time of year."

Matt _no_ clue what she was talking about, but went along with it, casually glancing back to the shop owner. It was weird having Sissy acting so friendly towards him. The shop owner made a face that recognized what Matt had meant, or at least what he believed he had meant.

"My apologizes," the shop owner apologized. "I've just gotten used to tourists being complete idiots when it comes to the Indigo Plateau."

Matt gave a friendly smile, even though he had been unintentionally insulted.

"You see," the shop owner explained, "we've been having a lot of visitors on the account that a new trainer from the elite four is leaving, so naturally the three remaining leaders are looking for a trainer who's up to pare, which might take some time. Since Viridian is one of the only ways to get there, there have been a lot of folk passing through."

Again, Matt just smiled, nodding his head as if he actually understood any of what he said. He knew about the elite four from the games, but didn't know shit when it came to the _actual_ elite four. Matt wasn't even going to bother trying to ask about them in fear he'd look like a complete idiot again.

"That fact aside," the owner said, "feel free to look around the shop and see if anything strikes your fancy. If you have any questions feel free to ask."

The owner went back to reading his comic book as Matt looked around the store, wondering what there was to by. First thing first though: he needed to put on the Pokebelt. Not having a belt in the first place, Matt looped the belt through his jeans and adjusting the belt buckle. He placed his Pokeballs in three of the six slots. He felt more professional just wearing the thing.

Looking at Emie's ball, he was beginning to wonder how she was holding up.

"**Where's Bill?!"** Smash! **"Where's Bill?!**" Smash!

**"I-I don't know who you're talking about!"**

**"Bullshit!"** Smash!

Emie watched in awe as the lady who had awoken from her four year coma slammed a door in on a guy's head. Emie's eyes were glued to the television, amazed by such an impressive woman. Being so sucked in, Emie's tongue was barely sticking out of her mouth without her even realizing it. Rachel looked over at her as they sat together on the couch, seeing her totally mesmerized by the movie.

"It's pretty good, huh?" Rachel said, personally finding Emie adorable by how drawn in she was. With her tongue still slightly sticking out of her mouth, Emie nodded her head, not taking her focus away from the movie for even a second.

After looking around the store for a little while, Matt had picked out some things. He had gotten three more Pokeballs (now having four in total) and three more potions (again, making a total of four). Setting his things on the counter, Matt saw something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head, seeing some collars on display near the counter.

Each of the collars were a different color. One was a light orange, another was a dark green, and there was even one that was a sea blue. The one that had gotten his attention however was the pink one with the matching bell with a pink heart cut out of it that made it jingle.

The owner and Sissy watched Matt pick it up, seeing the price tag on it. Being over 20,000 tabs, Matt couldn't understand why it was so expensive. It didn't take him long to realize it was a talker collar. He cocked his head, thinking deeply to himself. Sissy acted like she could tell what she was thinking.

"I don't mean to sound cruel," she told him, "but are you really sure you _want_ to hear Emie talk. Her voice would probably get annoying."

She was right: that was cruel, but at least Sissy was sounding like her self again, for better or worse. Matt looked at her with a meek shrug.

"The way things are," he told her, "I could afford it. Not to mention it'd be useful so I wouldn't have to keep playing charades with her."

"But I thought that was half the fun?" Sissy said sarcastically, casting a dirty look. Matt could tell she was getting upset with him. He couldn't understand why though.

"It would also help if she runs off." Matt added. "She does have the attention span of a squirrel sometimes and the jingling might make it easier if she did."

"You can say that again." Sissy huffed under her breath. "Stupid Meowth..."

Matt looked at the owner, not giving Sissy's odd attitude change a second thought.

"And if business is really bad right now I might as well help out." Matt said to the owner, making him smile. "It's the least I could do."

Matt put the collar on the counter along with the rest of the things he was checking out. The owner started ringing him up, coming to a grand total of 23,000 tabs, since each Pokeball and Potion cost 500 tabs each. With such a perfect number, Matt couldn't help but thank Jimmy in his head for prize money. Matt reached in his envelope, handing over the money, now with 19,000 tabs remaining.

The owner bagged his things for Matt with the sound of a bell jingling. At first Matt thought it was from the collar, but soon realized it was from the front door being opened.

In a leather jacket and with Pokeballs by his side on his belt, a guy waltzed into the shop with a shark-like grin. The owner tensed up in fear, knowing that this guy meant trouble.

"Hey there Terence," they guy in the leather jacket said to him, "looks like you've got yourself a customer." the guy looked at Matt with his large grin still holding up. "Terence has a good selection, don't you think?"

Matt was no idiot. This guy was clearly up to no good.

"Can I help you?" Matt asked him with a raised brow. The guy looked at the bag in his hand.

"What 'cha got in there?" he asked him.

"Come on, Lorenz." The owner told him. "Don't do this."

"Shut your face, you old geezer." the guy told him disrespectfully. Matt handed the bag of stuff over to Sissy. Not sure what he was up to, she took the bag from him.

"Don't you think it's a little rude to talk like that to your elders?" Matt asked him taking a step forward. Sissy was now getting worried. Matt hadn't gotten those marks on his body from nothing. He'd obviously seen his fair share of fights. It was apparent by the markings that he also had taken a lot of abuse from said fights. Her grip tightened around the handle of the plastic bag.

The guy in the leather jacket found Matt's disposition amusing.

"And who might you be?" he asked Matt entertained. Matt glared at him.

"It's not so much who I am," Matt told him, "rather _what_ I am."

The guy in the leather jacket looked at Matt were the most hilarious piece of work he'd ever seen. He shook his head laughing, bending over and holding himself by his knees. Regaining composure took him a little while as he bent there laughing his ass off.

"Okay, kid," he laughed, "I'll bite. _What_ are you?"

"I'm a guy who's broken more punks like you than you could ever imagine." Matt told him without ego. "I've been stabbed, shot, and left for dead. I've pulled myself out of my own grave and I'm willing to put you in yours if you think you've got the balls to start something."

The guy in the leather jacket didn't laugh as much as he did before, starting to take Matt a little more serious, though he didn't believe a word he told him.

"That's some mighty talk coming from some cocky brat." he told him. His hand reached into his pocket sinisterly, pulling out something that Matt had seen too many times in his life. A switchblade. He flicked it open as if to intimidate him. Sissy was frozen in fear for Matt, who in return was a calm as ever. Matt gave the knife a look, smiling a little.

"That's a cute little toy you have there." He told the guy in the leather jacket. "Did your boyfriend pick it out for you?"

The guy in the leather jacket bared his teeth once more, but this time wasn't smiling with joy like he had been.

"Don't act like you're not scared, punk." the guy told him holding the blade. Matt stepped forward once again, as if daring him.

"If you're going to do something," Matt told him, "you might as well grow a pair and do it already. I don't have all day."

The guy with the leather jacket looked at Matt like he were retarded.

"Are you really that stupid?" he asked Matt.

"Not really," Matt said cockily, "I just don't want to take you away from your boyfriend more than you need to be. I'm sure he's waiting for you in the gutter you live in, wondering where you are."

The guy in the leather Jacket tensed up in rage. Matt only smiled in returned.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked him taking another step forward. "Are you scared to try and stab me? I'm just some punk after all, just like you said, right? I wouldn't want your boyfriend to think you're too much of a pussy to actually try and attack someone." Matt took another step forward with his grin growing. "Or is he the type that likes his men weak and pathetic?"

The guy in the leather jacket couldn't take his insults anymore. He raised his arm up in the air, ready to strike for Matt. It was as if time itself had slowed for Sissy as she watched him attack Matt, who in return just stood there in front of him, not even moving a muscle to defend himself. There was nothing she could do to help him. It would be too late by the time she did.

With a quick step to the right, Matt moved out of the way, grabbing the guy's wrist and twisting it. A loud cracking noise was heard with him dropping his knife and letting out a yell out pain. With his other hand, Matt smashed his fist into the side of the guy's face, still holding onto his wrist. The guy fell backwards with Matt yanking on his arm to pull him forward, then punching him in the throat, followed by a swift kick to the shin.

The guy in the leather jacket landed on his side, holding his throat in pain as Matt stood over him. He bent down next to him, grabbing his knife and pulling him up to his feet with his other hand. A little delirious from the heavy blows, the guy in the leather jacket's eyes were half closed, unable to focus on anything.

"If you even try and pull that shit again on me I'll make sure you can't walk." Matt told him as he threw him to the ground. The guy painfully got up and ran out of the store with Matt still holding the switchblade in his hand. He folded the blade back, hating the feeling of having the blade in his hand.

"I hate knives." Matt said to himself, tossing it in a garbage can in the shop. The owner was in shock from seeing his display. Nobody had ever stood up to one of the Brothers before. Sissy was just as surprised, not knowing Matt had the ability to dodge like that. The memory of when they first met came to mind. She remembered how nimbly he ducked when she swiped her bokuto over his head.

"Let's go." He told Sissy acting as if nothing had happened. Matt headed for the door, stopping for a moment, turning to look at the owner. "Thank you very much."

The owner shook his head with Sissy joining Matt's side.

"Oh no," the owner told him. "I should be the one thanking _you._"

Matt left without saying another word with Sissy following him, still holding his bag of things. Her anger came back after the moment of fear had left her for Matt's safety. Now that he was no longer in danger her upset attitude returned.

Matt and Sissy walked, making their way back to the Pokemon center, going through the market district with people hollering and shouting for people to buy things. Sissy had a chip on her shoulder, now like her normal self again, although, Matt couldn't understand what her deal was. He was tempted to just ask her, but before he could she spoke up.

"You just wasted 20,000 tabs." she told him harshly. Matt's pace slowed down with her following suit. Eventually they stopped walking all together. He looked into her eyes, seeing that she was more than just upset. There was something else that was up, but he couldn't quite place his finger on what it was.

"I already told you it would help us." he told her. "I thought you of all people would be happy considering you had to help translate for her."

She crossed her arms with her bokuto swaying as she turned away from Matt.

"Well I'm not, okay?" She shook her head like she was disgusted. Her constant mood swings were getting the better of Matt. He could hardly keep up with how she was feeling. One moment she was pissed then the next she was crying in his arms. She'd be awkward for a little while, then she was pissed again. He frowned at her a little worried.

"Did I do something that upset you?" he asked innocently. She swung around and pointed her finger in his face, making him trip backwards and almost fall over.

"It's upsetting when I see you wasting money like that!" she yelled. Nobody seemed to notice her outburst due to the fact that the market street had now gotten much busier as the day went on. Matt got a little offended by her treating him like that, refusing to let her speak of turn to him.

"Don't talk to me like that." he told her, giving her an order. She snarled at him, crossing her arms again with the sleeves of her kimono hiding her hands. "Look, I don't know what your deal is, but I don't see what the big deal is about me spending money on Em-"

He stopped himself, realizing why she was so upset.

"Wait a minute," he said in disbelief. "Are you jealous that I spent that much money on Emie?"

Sissy's face flushed red with her eyes opening wide with embarrassment. Nonetheless, she shook her head violently side to side.

"Don't be an idiot!" she yelled. "Why on earth would I be jealous of some stupid Meowth?"

Matt didn't know if he could believe her or not. She was clearly flustered with her emotions flaring more than they should have for someone claiming to not jealous.

"I'm sorry," Matt apologized. "I didn't realize that it would bug you that much if I bought Emie something so expensive."

Sissy's rage got the better of her, unable to hold back from flying off the handle at him. She got in his face, almost as if she were going to hit him.

"I don't give a damn how much you spent on your precious Meowth!" she screamed. "And for all I care the two of you two can have sex to your hearts content!"

Matt took a step back fearfully. She followed his motion by taking a step forward, making him back up into a building with her getting in his face with anger radiating off of her.

"You act like I give a damn about you, but the truth is, I don't care about you or that stupid Meowth that's so dear to you! I hate everything about you and nothing you say or do will ever, and I mean _ever,_ change that! You got that?!"

Matt blinked, feeling as if he were being slapped across the face.

"But what about last night?" he asked her. "You were crying in my arms, saying how sorry you were..."

Sissy thrash her arms in his direction, almost hitting him.

"Last night never happened!" she yelled. "I felt sorry for you because you're so damn pathetic, with your stupid mistakes and regrets! I hate you Matt! I hate everything about you!"

She threw the bag she was carrying for him on the ground.

Matt stared back at her, seeing the cold look in her eye. His heart ached from hearing how much she hated him. God, she really meant it too. There was no lying with eyes like those. He looked away from her and swallowed painfully.

"I understand." he told her with his voice hardly above that of a murmur. He reached down and took the bag that Sissy had thrown down. He turned away from her with his head lowered, unable to look at her as if ashamed of who he was. "I'm gonna go back to the suite to drop this off. You don't have to follow me. I'll see you later..."

With that, he walked away from her with his head lowered. Sissy watched with her ears lowering, not meaning to have gone so overboard with her anger. With Matt's feelings completely shattered, he headed for the Pokemon Center. Sissy couldn't have felt any worse than she did then, wishing she could have taken back everything she told him.

Lowering her own head, she turned around in the opposite direction and started walking down the market district for a walk. She stopped, turning to say something to Matt, but couldn't say anything. Never had she seen Matt so depressed. She turned again, beginning to walk again down the market district with regret.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17**_

With the protagonist (the "Bride") standing off against the the crazy 88's, or better know to Emie as "the bad guys," the bloodshed continued. Limps and body parts were being severed off with blood every now and then spraying like water jetting out of a hose. Rachel glanced over to Emie. She hadn't budged since she started the movie, still with her tongue barely sticking out of her mouth in her cinematic endued trance.

The VIP suite door opened with Matt coming inside. Sissy wasn't with him and he looked miserable. Making sure not to get in Emie's way as she got up, Rachel leapt over the back of the couch and approached Matt. He dropped a bag that was in his hand on the floor as if it were filled with rocks. Rachel smiled with pride, pointing over to Emie as she watched the slaughter on the flat screen television continue.

"She's better now." she told him happily. "All it took was a few words of encouragement and Kill Bill to make her feel better." Rachel looked down at the plastic bag of things on the floor. "What's all that?"

"Stuff I bought." Matt said vaguely and sounding as if he were dead to the world. He drug his feet over to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Wondering what on earth he was doing, Rachel watched as he pulled out a box of remaining Pizza from the night before, however, Rachel, who was never there with them at the time when they went out for pizza, hadn't the slightest clue what it was. He opened the box and grabbed for a Pokeball on his belt, which was also new to Rachel.

"Hey," she said sounding chipper, "where did you get that sweet belt?"

Matt didn't bother to respond, instead sending out Raticate without warning.

Rachel nearly pissed her pants when the seven foot rat-beast appearing next to him in the kitchen. On the account that it didn't look like it wanted to kill him, she assumed that it was friendly, but still, what the hell?! She was never told about whatever _that_ thing was. She backed away, watching as Matt looked at Raticate with sad eyes.

"I'm so sorry," he told him sounding as if the world were coming to an end. "First I let you get burnt alive and then I forgot to feed you before I left this morning. God, I'm a shitty trainer." Matt hung his head with the Raticate wondering what was wrong. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"Raticate..." it told him as kindly as possible. Matt could hear the tenderness in it's voice, knowing that it was alright. Rachel however was scared to death of the thing and it's noise only made her more frightened. She dove over the couch, accidentally bumping into Emie, who was too engrossed in watching the movie to even care. Rachel peaked up from the couch, watching Matt still standing next to the huge rodent beast-thing.

"I hope you're not mad, buddy." Matt told him looking down at the kitchen floor.

The Raticate shook it's large head, letting out a grunt. As he was, the Raticate was actually not as hungry as Matt assumed he was.

** When a Pokemon is in it's ball it is in a relaxed state, prolonging the time it takes to induce hunger and sleep deprivation, assuming the Pokemon doesn't choose to sleep in it's ball in the first place. With the Pokeball being such an advanced piece of technology, it can even mend some wounds that he Pokemon has sustained over time, however it is recommended to not let a major wound go untreated for an extended period.**

Matt sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm really not in the mood to hear voices." he mumbled to himself. He drug his feet across the suite and entered his room with his head hung low.

"Feel free to eat what you want and relax outside of your Pokeball." Matt told Raticate before closing his room door. The Raticate gladly helped itself to the pizza, grabbing it and devouring each slice in mere seconds. Rachel watched horrified, hiding from it behind the couch.

Minutes passed, feeling like hours to Rachel as the Raticate now laid on the floor, taking a nice nap after eating god knows how many slices of pizza. She was worried it would wake up and go on some rampage. It looked terrifying.

"Emie..." Rachel whispered. "What the heck is that thing?..."

Emie didn't respond, soon with the credits rolling down the screen. With the movie now over, she rubbed her eyes, looking over the couch to see the Raticate. A smile lit up on her face, standing up on the couch. She jumped over the back of the couch, preforming a perfectly executed flip.

"Meowth!" she cried, preforming a pretend karate chop on the Raticate. Rachel desperately tried to get her attention, telling her not to piss off the giant rat. The Raticate opened his eyes, watching as Emie play hit him. He sat up with a yawn, sounding like a roar to Rachel, making her duck behind the couch as Emie kept playing with the Raticate.

Rachel looked up, seeing the Raticate smile at Emie as she pretend fought with him. She preformed a back flip with the Raticate grabbing her by the foot and lifting her up, holding her upside down with her hands dangling down near the floor. Rachel thought it was the end of Emie, covering her eyes fear as she helplessly hung there in the Raticate's grasp.

She didn't expect Emie to start giggling madly. With his free hand, the large Raticate started tickling Emie as he held her upside-down. Rachel watched this display of playfulness, confused as to why such a scary creature like that was playing with her like some big teddy bear.

The Raticate looked over at Rachel, momentarily ceasing from the tickle attack he was preforming on Emie, giving her a large, warm smile with his teeth showing. Teeth that size could shred a human to bits. She nervously smiled back at him, giving him a weak wave. As if mimicking her actions, he waved back at her. He didn't seem like a threat.

As calm as possible, she got up from the couch and headed over to the bag Matt had dropped, curious as to what he had gotten. The entire time she kept her eyes on Emie and the Raticate as he resumed tickling her. Emie giggled followed by an accidental snort while Rachel searched the plastic bag. The pink collar instantly caught her eyes.

She took it out, looking over to Emie as the Raticate let go of her. Like a gymnast, Emie caught herself with her hands and preformed a tumble onto her feet. Rachel stood up with the bell of the pink collar jingling. Freezing in mid karate chop, Emie looked over at Rachel, seeing the collar. A large opened mouth smile emerged from her, as Rachel held the collar.

"Since Sissy doesn't strike me as the type to wear something like this," Rachel deduced. "and this is clearly not for the rat, I think this is yours, kitty cat."

Emie rushed over to Rachel, grabbing it with glee. Matt had bought her a pretty collar! She loved him even more than she already did! Emie put the collar up to her neck, but was unable to strap it on. She frowned and made grumpy hums as Emie struggled to get it on herself. The spectacle was entertaining, finally forcing Rachel to help her put it on.

With careful adjustment, she got the collar around her neck. It looked really cute on her. Emie batted the bell with a giggle, making it jingle.

"You look cute." Rachel laughed. Emie opened her mouth.

"Jingly!" she giggled.

Both Emie and Rachael gasped in unison, looking at each other. She talked?! Emie grew even more excited by this discovery, batting the bell as if victoriously conquering her previous inability to speak, or at least coherently.

"Emie can talk!" she exclaimed speaking in third person. "Emie can talk!"

"Holy crap," Rachel muttered. "what kinda collar is that?"

Emie looped her fingers around it and pulled, looking down at the collar.

"Emie thinks it's a talky collar." she told her. The Raticate didn't think it was that big of a deal, humbly going back to his nap, shortly after snoozing like he had been before. Emie batted at the pink bell with a heart carved out of it, giggling once again. "Emie likes it!"

Rachel still couldn't get over the fact that she was talking all of a sudden. Before Rachel could think of anything to say, Emie ran towards Matt's room, giggling like a girl who had been given a car for their birthday.

Matt laid there on the bed with his hat beside him, staring up at the ceiling with Sissy's words still echoing in his mind. Ever since Rachel arrived in the early hours of the morning things had been screwed up. By the sounds of giggling outside it sounded like Emie was at least happy, but his head was starting to hurt for some unknown reason. He thought about it, realizing that he had all three of his Pokemon out, each on green. His head wasn't hurting to the extent of needing aspirin, but it was a little annoying.

Still lying on his back, he reached for Sissy's Pokeball, switching it from green to blue with his headache disappearing. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. He slid the ball back into on of the loops with the sound of his door nearly bursting open. Out of pure reflex, Matt sat up at an alarming speed.

Without any time to dodge her, Emie pounced on top of Matt playfully with her as happy as ever. At least _she_ didn't hate him like Sissy did. Emie embraced him, laying on top of Matt in a cuddled up ball with the bell on her collar giving a single jingle.

"Emie can talk!" she told him giddily. Her voice sure sounded cute. Matt couldn't help but chuckle as she lay on top of him with her legs lowering down to each of his sides. Her pelvis was on top of his, rubbing against each other. Emie was too oblivious to notice how sexual it was, but Matt certainly wasn't going to complain about it.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better." he told her. "I hope you like that talker collar; it wasn't cheap, but I thought you could use something to cheer you up."

Emie batted at the bell once again, laughing from the jingle.

"It's really nice." she said with a squinted grin that made her canine tooth protrude like it always did when she was happy.

"Well I'm glad you like it." he told her, frowning soon after. Emie saw that he was sad now frowning with him.

"Why is Matt so sad?" she asked him. The way she spoke in third person added to her adorableness, but wasn't adorable enough to make Matt feel that much better.

"Sissy got mad and yelled at me." he told her. "She got mad at me for buying you a collar."

Emie now looked angry, upset how Sissy had treated him.

"Sissy is mean to Matt!" she said upset. "Emie doesn't like Sissy. She's mean..."

Matt shook his head, looking at Emie with a patient look in his eye.

"How about we talk about something happier?" Matt told her, reaching up and rustling her hair. "I see you were watching Kill Bill with Rachel."

Emie nodded her head with her tooth sticking out once again.

"It was really good!" she told him. "There was this lady who was really awesome! She did lots of moves Emie does!"

Her excitement practically lit up her face. Matt poked her in the cheek.

"Sorta like a ninja?" he asked her. As if not knowing what he was talking about, she gave him a funny look of confusion. Matt frowned back at her. "You know, a ninja? People who wear black and hide in the shadows? They use katana's and throw knives and whatnot."

It didn't seem like any of this was ringing a bell.

"Emie has never heard of a ninja before..." she admitted, sounding a little sad that she didn't know what they were. Matt wrapped his arms around her as she lay on top of him.

"It's not that big of a deal." Matt assured her. "I'm just glad you're happy again."

She smiled at him lovingly, suddenly feeling something hard against her pelvis. Emie looked at Matt blushing when she realized he had was getting an erection. She stared into his eyes with a small, shy smile emerging.

"Is that because of Emie?" she asked him flattered. Matt smugly grinned back at her.

"You tend to have that effect on me I've noticed." he joked. His hands shamelessly grabbed the back of her tank top, pulling up past her bra. Emie giggled as he pulled up on her bra as well with her well formed breasts being exposed. He moved his head forward, grappling onto her nipple with her letting out a coo of pleasure.

"Hey Emie," Rachel said, walking into the room with the door still wide open, "Did you wanna watch volume two of Kill Bi-"

Rachel stopped in mid sentence, finding Matt latched onto her tit as she laid on top of him. Matt froze, still gently biting down on her nipple, looking over at Rachel. She simply stared back at him at a loss for words. Emie however acted as if nothing were happening, looking over to Rachel friendlily.

"Emie and Matt are busy right now," she told her candidly, "but Emie would like to watch it later."

Rachel was holding back from bursting out in laughter with Matt giving her a death glare. She put her hands up as if to show him she didn't mean any harm.

"Hey," she told him with a single laugh slipping out. "next time put a sock on the door or something. At least close it."

Matt's mouth was still on Emie's tit.

"Get. Out. Now." he said still biting down on her breast.

Rachel turned around with the biggest grin on her face that Matt had ever seen. She closed the door followed by a wailing of laughter afterward. Matt groaned irritably by her intrusion, but was a little more focused on having some fun with his loveable Meowth. Emie giggled as he reached around her and squeezed her ass, taking off her pants soon afterward.

Sissy was sitting on a park bench in the market district with the afternoon sun shining down on her. Her head was lowered shamefully, wishing she could go back in time to fix what she had done. Why did she have to yell at Matt like that? Dammit, she screwed up again. Burying her face in her hands, she let out a depressed sigh.

She sat there with the area she was in mostly being baron. The only people that were actually on the market street were a loving couple sitting at a table outside a coffee shop, both reading an identical newspaper with their faces behind them. Every now and then Sissy would notice one of them lower the paper, but them bring it right back up when she looked over at them. Such an odd couple.

Darrell, in an outfit consisting of dress pants, a smoking jacket, and an ascot, glanced over to Doug. He was wearing a flower print dress with matching yellow shoes that were a size too small for his feet, but forced them to fit. He had his moderately long natural blonde hair in a pig tails and was wearing blush that made him look more famine.

"Where the hell did her trainer go?" Darrell asked Doug, who in return was too busy checking out his outfit.

"Seriously," Doug muttered to himself, "wearing woman's clothing is one thing, but these shoes are so tacky. Definitely should have went with the sailor outfit."

Darrell shook his head with his grip on his newspaper tightening.

"Why the hell would a sailor be doing _here_?" Darrell asked him getting off topic. "There isn't a navel port for miles."

Doug sighed, crossing his legs with his foot bobbing up and down as he moved his ankle around.

"I look like a damn housewife." he complained. Darrell was about to throw his newspaper at him, or possibly just roll it up in a tube and start betting him violently with it.

"It doesn't fucking matter!" Darrell hissed. "Can we please just stay focused on the matter at hand. We need to figure out a way to capture that Growlithe."

Doug looked up from his newspaper at Sissy. He could tell something was wrong.

"She looks sad." Doug commented. Darrell bared his teeth, trying his best to keep his temper under control.

"Who cares if she looks sad?" Darrell scowled. "I swear you act like more like a woman each day that passes."

Doug threw down the newspaper on the table, glaring at Darrell.

"Well maybe if we had outfits that didn't require me to wear panties I might be able to act more masculine!"

Darrell threw his newspaper down on the table as well, with Sissy not even noticing. She was too depressed to even care about a couple squabbling.

"It's not my fault that our disguises work so well!" Darrell spat in a whisper. "Don't you think it would be a little strange with two dudes wondering around together?"

"It's not as bad as having everyone in Team Rocket assuming we're more than friends." Doug came back, with Darrell putting his hand on his head with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Can we please not bring that up?" Darrell told him. "I'd rather focus on business than what those assholes thought of us."

Doug pointed at him, shaking his finger as if he had discovered a lost tome of knowledge.

"See!" he cried. "Even _you_ think they're assholes! So why the hell are we going through all of this trouble to steal a Growlithe if we hated working with them so much?!"

Darrell groaned, picking up his newspaper again.

"Because we at least had a possible future." he said feeling a little depressed all of a sudden. "Without them we're just Doug and Darrell; we're nobodies."

Doug sighed, picking up his newspaper as well, but with a little more grace considering he was trying to pass as a woman.

"I still don't like this." Doug told him. "But as your friend, I'll go along with your obsession on getting back into Team Rocket. I just wish you'd reconsider."

Darrell lowered his paper with a frown.

"You've gotta understand, man." Darrell told him. "Without Team Rocket we're nothing. At least then we were employed. It was better than what we have to do now to get money."

Doug shrugged with a breeze rolling by and blowing his pig tails to the side.

"I guess you have a point." he told him. "They at least paid us well."

**Team Rocket has always been known as a top notch criminal organization dedicated to all kinds of felonies, most of which being grand theft on major levels. Being divided into three different sects, Team Rocket has three major rolls: stealing and selling rare and powerful Pokemon on the black market, political and industrial blackmail, and assassination.**

Doug nearly fell backwards in his seat with his head jerking side to side.

"Christ!" he cried. "where the hell did that come from?!"

Darrell looked at him as if he were crazy.

"What's your problem?" Darrell asked him doubtfully. Doug was nearly in a state of paranoia, checking under the table they were sitting around and behind him every few seconds.

"Somebody was talking or something." Doug said almost pleading for Darrell to believe him. Darrell laughed it off, raising his newspaper up once again.

"Whatever, man."

"I swear I heard something!" Doug told him upset. "Don't just brush me off like that!"

Darrell raised an doubting eyebrow. Doug was about to flip the table in rage.

"I'm telling you I heard something, you cunt!" Doug snarled. Darrell started laughing at his friend.

"Hey," Darrell laughed. "you're the one wearing panties, not me."

Sissy was too busy with her own thoughts to listen to what the odd couple were arguing about. She couldn't help but to relive what she had said to Matt over and over again. Each time she remembered it the more brutal and cruel it sounded. There was no possible way her day could get any worse than it had been.

"Hey bitch!" she heard a voice say with the sound of feet stepping towards her. She looked up, ready to punch somebody's face in from such a disrespectful remark.

All in leather jackets, seven men approached her. One of which was the guy Matt had taught a lesson too early. His eye was blackened and had a wrapping around his wrist.

"Where's your trainer?" he said with a devilish grin.

Rachel, Emie, and Matt were all now on the couch as the credits for Kill Bill volume 2 rolled down the screen. It had been about three hours after Emie and Matt had fooled around, ending with Emie giving him oral and Matt giving her the same. Afterward, he watched the movie with them with a conceded smile with Emie cuddled up next to him. It was now around three in the afternoon with the movie finally coming to a happy end.

"I've lost count how many times I've seen this movie now." Matt said to himself with Emie glancing up at him. Rachel stood up and stretched with her body feeling as if it had fallen asleep. Raticate was still snoozing behind the couch, content as ever.

"Emie wants to be a ninja." Emie told him with a serious tone of voice. Matt looked down at her with Emie's head resting on his shoulder.

"From those flips I saw you do," Rachel told her rubbing the back of her neck, "you already are kinda like one. All you need now is a black outfit, some edged weapons, and hide in the dark, waiting to strike your enemies."

Emie frowned at that last part.

"Emie is afraid of the dark." she admitted fearfully. Matt put his arm around her, kissing her head comfortingly.

"Don't worry," he told her, "you don't have to hide in the dark. You'll always be my ninja nonetheless."

Emie smiled at him with her tooth showing.

"Emie thought she was a princess?" she said teasingly. Matt tussled her hair as she giggled.

"Fine," he said correcting himself. "you're my princess _and_ ninja. You're a ninja princess."

"A prin-ja?" Rachel joked. Matt shrugged.

"Maybe a nin-press?" he chuckled. "Or what about a-"

There was violent pounding on the door. The Raticate sat up and blinked his eyes with eye crust from his slumber caked on the corners of his eyes. Rachel approached the door as it was being rapped on relentlessly. It was actually really annoying.

"Chill out," she said with her hand on the doorknob. "hold on, will ya?"

The door was kicked open with Rachel flying backwards and hitting her head on the side of the couch. Matt and Emie jumped up from the couch with the Raticate, getting up to his feet. Two men in leather jackets ran into the room with Pokeballs in their hands.

"Get ready for payback you piece of shit!" one of them said. They threw their Pokeballs on the floor with bright red lights flashing, blinding Matt temperately. Two Pokemon appeared, one being a human-like thing in tattered clothes with a deformed head. Smoke was emanating from it's brownish-gray skin.

"Koffing!" it grunted with it's posture being slouched and it leaning to it's left side.

The other was a slime-like creature, being a blob of purplish goo. It raised upwards, creating the structure of a human, being a purple silhouette.

"Grimer!" it chimed in with a whole appearing as it's mouth, soon after fading away in the slime.

Matt jumped over the couch, adjusting his hat.

"I don't know who you punks think you are busting down my door," Matt told them pointing his finger in their direction, "but you've just made the worst mistake of your life!"

"Don't act like you don't know what you did!" One of the men said with his Grimer standing in a fighting pose. "You messed with Lorenz and now you're gonna get whats coming to you."

Matt smirked.

"Is he your boyfriend I taught a lesson to early today?" Matt snickered. Rachel was getting up from the blow of getting the door kicked in on her, standing up feeling light headed.

"The fuck just happened?..." she mumbled in a daze. She opened her eyes, seeing the two men in leather jackets with their Pokemon. Startled, she jumped backwards into the couch and accidentally tumbled backwards over it. Raticate and Emie took a fighting stance in front of Matt, ready to hash it out in the open space of the suite. One of the guys in the leather jackets smirked back at Matt.

"You're a pain to find." One of them told him with a grin. "It would have been so much easier if our boss let us hit your Growlithe around for some answer instead of wasting all this time looking for you."

Matt's expression grew serious.

"What the fuck did you do with my Growlithe." Matt said with a fire lighting in his heart.

The other guy in the leather jacket cracked his neck.

"Our boss has her now." he told him cockily. "I'm sure he's having all kinds of fun with her by now. I know I would."

Matt's balled his hands into fists in rage.

"You sons of bitches..." he said visibly shaking with pure fury. He pointed his fist at them.

"Emie! Raticate!" he ordered. "Attack!"

Emie and Raticate darted forward towards the enemy Pokemon.

With her being as quick as she was, Emie had gotten in reaching distance of the Koffing within a mere second.

"Aim for the eyes!" Matt ordered. Emie swiped her claws at it's face with it letting out a cry of pain. Brown substance splattered on the white carpet. It let out a howl of pain as Emie followed up the attack by headbutting it.

At the same time, Matt's Raticate had grappled onto the Grimer, only to have it glob over his arm and be the one grabbing onto _him_. Raticate shook it around with the Grimer literally being picked up from the ground and being thrown against an open wall of the suite.

"Take it down, Raticate!" Matt told him. It did what it was told, smashing into the wall with the Grimer taking the blow hard, being sandwiched between a buff 400 pound Raticate and the wall.

Emie was busily clawing and swiping at the Koffing, not even giving it a chance to fight back. For some reason, Emie seemed to share Matt's anger and rage as she swung her arms at the Pokemon. She raised her arm up about to preform a karate chop.

"Don't hold back, Emie!" Matt cried.

With strength that even Emie didn't know she possessed, she chopped down on the Koffing's head with it's knees giving way, hurdling for the floor. It landed on it's face, letting out a wheeze of pain with brown smoke emanating.

Raticate was still pile driving into the Grimer who couldn't do anything but take the beating. After what had to have been the ninth body slam, the Grimer returned to it's goo-like state, draining down onto the floor from the wall limply.

Both trainers in their leather Jackets were dumbfounded, looking at Matt in horror. Emie and Raticate joined by Matt's side as the fire inside his heart still burning bright. He raised his hand at them, pointing at each of the trainers.

"That was the most _pathetic_ battle I've ever had to fight." he told them without ego. "Did you punks really thing you could defeat me?"

They both were frozen in fear as Matt fearlessly approached one of them. Grabbing him by the hair, Matt took one of the thugs and pulled. The thug let out a cry of pain with his hair nearly being ripped out of his skull his friend back peddling, only to land on his butt when he tripped on his own feet. Matt shot a dark glare at him, making the other thug freeze in terror.

"Who the fuck are you guys and what did you do to my Growlithe?!" Matt yelled at the thug who's hair was about to be yanked from his skull like a root from the ground. He panicked with his body quaking like a trapped rabbit.

"I swear," the guy begged, "I was just following orders!"

Matt punched him square in the nose.

"I don't give a fuck if you were following orders or not!" Matt yelled enraged. "You're gonna tell me what you guys did with my Growlithe!"

Matt saw the other thug out of the corner of his eye try to slip out the suite.

"I'd advise against that if you want to keep all of your fingers." Matt hissed without even looking over at him. The thug stopped in mid step, getting down on his knees and putting his hands behind his head. It sounded like he was about to start crying.

Rachel, who had gotten out from behind the couch after the fray of battle, was looking at the uncontentious Pokemon on the ground, then at Emie and Raticate. She could have easily predicted that _he_ was going to handle his own, but Emie was another story. Rachel couldn't fathom how such a sweet, innocent Meowth like her could do so much damage. And so ruthlessly.

"Remind me not to mess with you, kitty cat." she told her with a nervous laugh. Emie smiled at her with a proud fist pump along with her bell jingling.

"Emie is a strong, powerful ninja!" she said triumphantly. Matt had then landed another blow to the thug's face that he was still holding by the hair

"Tell me what you guys did with my Growlthe or I swear to god I'm gonna rip of your di-"

Two more men rushed into the suite, but clearly not having any relation to the men in leather jackets. They were wearing casual clothes: Black tee shirts, jeans that had tears at the knees, and sneakers. One of them had short, black hair with the other having blonde hair that was in a tied pony tail, going down to about his upper back.

Doug and Darrell had arrived too late before they could warn them. Darrell swore, looking at Doug upset.

"I told you talking the back alleys here would only slow us down." he wheezed out of breath.

"Don't act like it was my fault." Doug huffed back with his lungs lacking oxygen. "I didn't know there was going to be so many damn fences."

Matt, Rachel, Emie, and even the Raticate, looked at the two of them at a loss. As if reading their minds, Doug and Darrell stood up straight, trying to act professional, even if they weren't disguised this time.

"Hello," Darrell said still with his breath not fully returning, "my name is Darrell and this is my good friend Doug."

Doug gave a weak wave, soon bending over once again with his hands on his knees feeling exhausted from all of the running they had to do.

"We saw these guys take your Growlithe and we were trying to get here before they attacked." Doug explained to Matt, then looking down at the floor where the uncontentious Pokemon lay. "But considering what I'm seeing I say you really didn't need much of a warning."

Doug and Darrell began to explain to Matt what had happened. Sissy was jumped by a small group of the 'Brothers,' a local gang that had been terrorizing the merchants, and were out on revenge after what Matt had done to one of their men. With only Sissy, they decided to take her hostage and try to get information out of her as to where Matt was. However, from what the thugs had just said, she didn't say a word.

They told Matt that they were passing through on a walk when they saw everything going down. It wasn't like they were going to tell him that they were planning on kidnapping her when they got the chance. They said that Sissy fought most of them off , but was taken down when they ganged up on her. Matt listened nearly petrified in fear as they explained everything.

"What time did this happen?" he asked panicked. Darrell couched, still with breath evading him.

"A little after noonish." he told him.

"Shit," Matt swore. "do you have any idea where they took her."

"We overheard one of them saying that they found out where you guys were staying." Doug explained. "Darrell and I decided it would be best to warn you before they attacked, even if it did take us seemly forever to get here."

"So that explains how you guys knew how to find us, then." Rachel said aloud. Doug and Darrell glanced at each other with sheepish looks. It wasn't like they were going to tell them that they had been stalking them and already knew where Matt had been staying ever since he got the suite. They looked back at Rachel, giving a nod with a nervous smile. They hadn't realized there was another girl accompanying Matt.

"Y-yeah." Darrell said with his own interests in mind. "That's right."

The only reason Doug and Darrell had informed them was because they knew damn well they wouldn't be able to steal Sissy from Matt if she was already captured by the Brothers. Their best bet was to get Matt to get her back _then_ steal her. Doug was actually more worried about Sissy's well being while Darrell only cared about stealing her.

Matt drug the thug he still was holding by the hair over to the kitchen area with an anger that Rachel had rarely seen. He smashed the guys head down into the sink. Blood spattered on the floor as everyone in the room cringed, even the other thug who was on his knees still.

"Where is she?!" Matt yelled, still pulling him by his hair. They guy was a little delirious from the blow. He opened his mouth with nothing coming out at first. Matt raised his fist at him once again, but he didn't react in any way.

"Whatever you do to me is nothing compared to what the boss will do to me if I tell you." The thug pleaded. Matt bared his teeth, glancing up at the stove top. He pulled the thug over to the stove top, turning it on high with Rachel wondering what on earth he was doing. It didn't take her long to realize when Matt lifted the thug up to his feet and leaned him close to the burner.

"The great thing about these stoves is that the burners don't take very long to heat up." Matt told him with the thug staring at the coil of the burner, now slightly turning red. "Tell me where she is or your going to how I'm feeling right now."

The thug panicked, shaking his head with everyone in the room, even the Raticate, mortified by how extreme Matt was being. Rachel sorta knew that Matt was like this when someone he cared about was in trouble. She knew from experience. Even though she badly wanted to stop Matt, she knew better. It would only make him more angry.

"Don't do it!" the guy pleaded. "I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Matt leaned him closer to the burner with the heat making the thug start to sweat."

"Where is she!" Matt yelled.

"S-she's at our base!" he said on the verge of tears. "The old tire factory on the edge of town! It's down the street from the police station!"

How ironic, Rachel thought.

Matt turned off the burner and threw the thug to the ground. He knelt down beside him with the guy still sweating, but finally at ease knowing his face wasn't going to be burnt off. Their eye's met with Matt's burning into him. They looked like a storm at sea, raging uncontrollably.

"You and your friend take you Pokemon and get the hell out of my suite." he told him. "If I find out you told your boss that I'm coming, I'll kill you. If I find you with your gang again, I'll kill you. And if you _ever_ pull a stunt like this again..." Matt stared at the thug.

"Y-you'll kill me?" he asked him. Matt slowly nodded his head.

"Now that you know," Matt told him, "get the hell out of my place!"

The thugs returned their Pokemon into their balls, dashing out the door nearly at the speed of light. Matt stood up from the ground, feeling his heart rate going through the room. He reached for Raticate's ball, returning him as well. Emie looked at Matt with an identical fire, raising her hand up and karate chopping downward.

"Those meanies took our Sissy!" she said angry. "I'm gonna beat them up!"

Matt gave a smirk at her.

"Let's go get our Sissy back." Matt told her. He turned, walking towards the door, but was stopped by Rachel.

"Matt," she pleaded with him, "you don't know how many guys are gonna be swarming the place and it's not like they're not going to expect company after they took Sissy. It's gotta be some sort of a trap and you know it!"

Matt looked at her with Darrell and Doug standing beside her.

"I don't care if I'm going against a seven nation army," he told her dead serious, "nobody, and I mean nobody, _fucks_ with my Growlithe."

He and Emie ran out the door with haste. Rachel started swearing.

"Dammit!" she cursed, "that idiot is gonna get himself killed!"

Doug looked at her as if having a solution.

"We should inform the police." he told her with Darrell nearly snapping. Ex cons reporting to the police?! The idea was unthinkable. Rachel nodded.

"You're right." she told him, rushing out the door, "Come on you two, let's go!"

Darrell looked at Doug as if he were crazy.

"Are you insane?!" Darrell asked him. "We can't show our faces in that place!"

Doug sighed, giving him a helpless shrug.

"You want that Growlithe, don't you?"

Darrell groaned, finally nodding. The two of them chased after Rachel.

Things were about to get more serious than any of them could have imagined...


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18**_

Sissy was sitting on the hard, cold floor of the room she had been thrown into. There was single light that hung on the ceiling, barely lighting the darkness of the windowless room made of metal. There was no telling how long she had been in there with only the occasional sounds of shuffling feet outside the door. She felt cold. She felt lonely.

And yet, she deserved to be alone. She had treated Matt so terribly that there was no way that he would even think of looking for her. He was probably back at the suite with everyone, hurt from what she had told him. Sissy could feel her body shaking, holding herself back from crying.

She could handle the darkness and the cramped space, but it was the loneliness and abandonment that was breaking her spirit. There was nobody that could save her now. Sitting there with her legs crossed, she looked down at the bumps of a design that covered the entire floor, feeling as if all hope was lost.

"_I will never leave or abandon you. Ever."_ she remembered Matt telling her. Those words were the only comfort she had, wondering if there was any truth to them. A single tear fell onto her kimono.

Rachel, Doug, and Darrell hurried into the Police station. Matt and Emie were so far ahead they couldn't catch up to stop them. With only the authorities to rely on now, Rachel approached the front counter with Darrell and Doug trying to act casual. They weren't highly known criminals, but didn't want to chance having a police officer recognize them.

"I fucking hate this place." Darrell whispered to Doug as the two of them waited for Rachel to report what had happened. Doug was looking at the wanted posters. There we plenty of mug shots of Team Rocket members, all giving dirty looks at the camera that took the picture. There was even one where the Team Rocket member was flipping off the camera.

"Let's just act as calm as possible and nothing will happen." Doug told him.

The man at the front desk had a small television set turned on to some sports channel, looking bored out of his mind, leaning on the counter as Rachel approached. She slapped her hands on down on the front desk, not even fazing the guy.

"There's an emergency!" she told him with utmost urgency. "We need-"

"Please fill out a form." the police officer told her, not even looking at Rachel. She blinked, shaking her head as if he hadn't heard her correctly.

"No, you don't understand," she told him. "there was a kidnapping this afternoon and-"

"Please fill out a form." the officer repeated with a lack of enthusiasm. Rachel could tell he was just blowing her off.

"Will you listen to me?!" Rachel said raising her voice. "My friends are going to get themselves killed if you don't act _now_. I don't have time to-"

"Please fill out a form." the officer said for the third time, this time sounding no different from the previous ones. Rachel pounded her fist on the counter, making the officer jump a little. He finally made eye contact with her, soon regretting it when he saw her nearly fuming.

"I'll fill out a fucking form when you get off your ass and do something!" she yelled angrily. The officer didn't take to kindly to her outburst, giving a frown. He had large bags under his eyes, yawning leisurely and returning his gaze onto his television set.

"Can't you tell we're busy, miss?" he told her. Rachel looked around the room, seeing only a handful of police officers. Just like the man at the front desk, they were doing jack shit. One was playing with a yo-yo, another was eating a doughnut, and there was even a guy picking his nose. He flicked his finger and whipped off whatever was remaining on his pants.

"You're telling me you get paid to watch sports and do nothing all day?!" Rachel burst out loud. "Gee, I'm glad I can sleep well tonight knowing the streets are safe with incompetent assholes like you watching TV!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder behind her. Clearly not being Doug or Darrell, with those two weirdos staring at a wanted board for some reason, Rachel looked over her shoulder.

He had a shaved head and a very masculine profile. His eyes were a blueish green with a few scars on his face. Having a large body frame, he was wearing commando pants and a military jacket, both being an olive green. Not having his jacket buttoned up all the way showed that he was wearing a white shirt sorta like Matt's, except Matt's shirt wasn't as bright or clean looking. The man gave her a smile and a shake of his head.

"I don't think it's nice to talk to such hard working officers of the law like that, ma'am." he told her with his deep voice. The officer at the desk looked over, seeing the large man with his hand on Rachel's shoulder. He gave a weak and half assed smile at him.

"Hey there, Chase." the officer told him. "You collect that bounty?"

"Yes I did, officer O'Brien." Chase responded respectfully. Beside him was a furred woman, wearing identical clothes, but without the jacket. She was clearly some sort of canine with red bangs and short hair. Her white shirt was sleeveless, being a tank top, and was completely stain free. Her posture was upright with an erect stance with her black boots together as she stood beside Chase. Rachel also noticed she had multiple small tails that were behind her that went down to about the back of her knees.

"How's you're Vulpix doing?" the police officer asked Chase, not really caring, only to make small talk as if he gave a damn, which he didn't.

"She's been doing very well, haven't you Valery?"

"Yes sir!" she spoke with her orange eyes shimmering with enthusiasm. Her hands were by her sides with the olive green collar around her neck having a military dog tag on it. The officer went back to watching television with Chase's hand still on Rachel's shoulder.

"How about you and I walk and talk?" he told her. "I think I might be able to help you with your problem."

Rachel gave him a doubtful look as he led her towards the entrance of the police station. Doug and Darrell noticed that they were leaving, and not wanting to be in the station any longer than they needed to be, they quickly followed suit. Both of them felt like flies escaping from a spiders web, relieved that nobody noticed them. In truth, all of the officers were too busy doing their own things to even care who came in, let alone if they looked suspicious.

With his hand still on her shoulder, Chase gave a big friendly smile to her, making sure they were out of ear distance from the police inside the station.

"Those dimwits couldn't find their heads from their asses." he told her. "They're far to busy doing nothing to help your friends. Luckily for you, I just finished my last contract. My company would be more than glad to help you with your problem."

Rachel gave him an unsettling look.

"I doubt I'd have enough to cover what you're probably going to charge me for your services."

Chase stopped walking, putting his hand up in front of her.

"You misunderstand," he told her. "I'm not asking you to pay. I'm merely doing this to prove a point to my superiors."

Rachel gave him a confused look.

"I thought your type only worked if they get paid?" she told him uncertain. Chase chuckled, giving a nod with Darrell and Doug beside her once more.

"Don't get me wrong," he told her, "we do, but the city pays us for the jobs, especially criminals who work for Team Rocket."

Doug and Darrell swallowed nervously, trying to not show fear.

"As I said before," Chase told her with a sigh, removing his hand from her shoulder. "my superiors think that my choice of Pokemon to do our jobs is...unfit."

Valery blinked, making sure she stood attentive the entire they spoke. Chase motioned to Valery.

"This is Valery," he told them, "she's my Vulpix and is the best damn Pokemon agent we have on our team, or at least in my opinion. She's skilled in various martial arts, firearms, weapons, and even a little magic."

Rachel looked at Chase, not knowing what the hell he meant by that last part.

**The term UMP (Unexplainable and Miraculous Power) is more commonly referred to as 'Magic' for slang. It's been debated if such a term is politically correct in this day and age, but the term had been around ever since the medieval period in the Pokemon universe when UMP, as it is scientifically known as today, was first discovered, making most believe it to be a form of bizarre witchcraft. With lack of evidence and valid research, some actually claim that it **_**is**_** a form of witchcraft.**

Doug leapt from the startle of hearing a voice, looking all around him. Darrell punched him in the shoulder, making him stop.

"Calm down!" Darrell whispered in a panic. "I don't want any unnecessary attention while we're around this guy!"

"I heard it!" Doug told him hardly able to whisper back in such a state of fright. "I heard that voice again!"

Rachel looked back at Chase while Doug and Darrell started arguing in the background.

"My friends are in the abandoned tire factory and are most likely going to get themselves killed by a gang called the 'Brothers' if someone doesn't do something quick."

Chase smiled back at her.

"That's all I needed to hear." he told her, reaching for a hand radio by his side. He clicked a button and put it up to his ear. "Commander Chase speaking. I'm gonna need some firepower." There was a pause with Chase still holding up the radio to his ear. "No, I don't need reenforces, just some gear and weapons. 'Who'll be preforming this mission'?" He looked over at Valery, who kept a serious face the entire time. "My 'weak' and 'pathetic' Vulpix, Valery. You know? The one who's already carried out _twenty_ operations this month. Yeah, _that's_ the one."

The door opened to the room Sissy was in. A man in a leather jacket like the rest of the gang walked in, however, was much buffer than the other members. And slightly older for that matter. He stood there before her with his hands in his pockets with the door closing and locking behind him. Sissy glared at him and bared her teeth.

"Good to see you too, darling." he told her jokingly. He had a faint smile on his face, but seemed saddened all of a sudden. "I'm gonna hate having to wreak such a pretty face like yours. But that'll come in do time. In the meanwhile, relax."

"Go fuck yourself." Sissy spat. The man actually was taken back by how vulgar she sounded. He sighed, shaking his head with his hands still in his jacket pockets.

"I wish there was another way we could settle this mess," he told her, "but it'd be a bad image for the boys if I were to let you go." He gave her a sorry expression. "And it was all your trainers fault too, not yours. He just left you to pay for his actions."

"That's a lie!" Sissy yelled at him. She stood up from the floor and lunged forward, but was grabbed by the wrists. She struggled with him, but he was far too strong, even for her. He laughed at her attempt to fight back without her bokuto, throwing her back down onto the metal floor. She swore as she landed on her hands and knees.

"Your trainer just abandoned you." the man told her. "He just left you high and dry, yet you still stand up for him?"

Sissy looked up at him, too exhausted to fight back Her fight with the seven other men that jumped her in the streets had drained her.

"My trainer would never abandon me." she told him harshly. Her anger amused him, making the man in the leather jacket chuckle.

"Then where is he?" he asked her still smirking.

The metal door opened with one of the members of the gang standing in the doorway.

"He's here." the guy told him. "And he brought a Meowth with him."

The leader of the gang looked over his shoulder at his member, actually surprised that he was going to show up.

"Really?" he said surprised, glancing back over at Sissy. "I guess your trainer did come after all, darling."

Emie and Matt stood side by side, waiting for the leader to arrive. Matt had simply shown up with Emie, and to his surprise, didn't have the gang try and kill him like he predicted. Being about over 40 men, all armed, they could have easily overtaken him. Still, for some reason they just held their ground as if they had been expecting him.

Neither Emie nor Matt showed fear. They stood there silently with Matt only speaking once.

"Tell your leader I'm here." Was all he had said.

The factory had been gutted out, resembling more like a warehouse. There were crates and boxes scattered all over the place, making it easy for more members to potentially be hiding behind, but by the way they acted so confident, Matt doubted they would be cowering considering it was only him and his Meowth. Or so they thought. They had no idea about his Raticate, but he didn't think even _he_ would make much of a difference to their disposition.

Above the factory was a metal walkway that went from one side of the building to the other, with a staircase on the south end (which was near the entrance) and an additional metal room on the northern side The upper level was at least a hundred feet off the ground.

Emie glanced at Matt, feeling herself beginning to become afraid. It was just them against all these people. Matt could almost sense her fears, giving her a brave smile to show her he wasn't afraid. As bad as she wanted to be as brave as her idol and lover, she was losing faith in herself. How could she take on all of these people?

"Remember the Bride?" Matt asked Emie as the gang of thugs stood watch on the other side of the warehouse. She thought about it, remembering the way the protagonist in Kill Bill had completely taken down an entourage of the crazy 88's. Emie nodded her head at Matt with one of the Brothers being heard chuckling with a piece of pipe in his hand.

"Just remember that the Bride never got scared." he told her with a wink. "And to me, you're much more talented than she was."

Emie gave a weak smile that slowly grew into a much more self-assured one. She nodded with a humph, with her fear disappearing and her courage returning. The sound of footsteps walking down the metal staircase could be heard echoing though the empty factory with a male wearing a leather jacket descending.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting." the man said to Matt, making his way towards him. Instead of coming straight at him, he walked to the side, coming between him and his men, standing now only a few yards away from Matt. "Your Growlithe certainly has a good judge of character. She told me you'd be coming for her."

It was good the hear that at least, Matt thought to himself. At least she was alright to his knowledge. So help him, if that bastard laid a single hand on her...

"You'll be pleased to know that I hadn't once stuck your Growlithe," he said truthfully, "although there were many times I would have be more than glad to."

Matt gave him a cocky smirk.

"She can be a bit of a pain sometimes," Matt told him, "but she's worth it."

"She certainly must be." The leader told him without sarcasm or jesting in the slightest. "For you to come here with only you and your Meowth is definitely a feat of courage." The man cracked his knuckles and popped his neck. "I haven't seen courage like yours in a long time. The last person who dared test me had their fingers cut off and left on the street to die."

Emie cringed, glancing at her trainer as if to expect him to be afraid. Matt didn't even flinch at the leaders comment, calmly listening to his speech as if they were having a tender conversation. But with topics like being left for dead and having fingers cut off wasn't the kind of conversation Emie thought would be settling for Matt to hear. Unknown to her, Matt had heard plenty of threats like that. It was nothing new to him.

"It's one thing to be brave," Matt told him, "but it's even rarer to meet someone who also has the skills to match his boldness. I'm ready to prove I have both if you are."

The leader raised an eyebrow with his gang whispering to one another, treating Matt as if he were some bad joke with a flea ridden hairball.

"Are you challenging me?" The leader asked Matt, almost sounding flattered. Matt stood there with Emie once again looking up at him. Was he challenging him?

"All I want is my Growlithe." Matt told him, taking off his jacket. He tossed it to the ground with his white shirt exposed. Lifting his arms and turning his hands to fists, he took up a fighting stance. "But I'm not stupid. I know I screwed with your guys and you're wanting revenge for what I did. You're not going to let her go unless I take you down or leave here in a body bag. Is that about right?"

The leader was impressed. His eyes dilated as he started clapping his hands. His spiked red hair slightly moved every time he clapped. Murmurs were heard from his gang, wondering what was going on. He turned to them, pointing at Matt.

"If you boys had even an ounce of this guys brains we wouldn't be having issues like we have been. This young man right here is possibly the smartest individual I've ever met." He returned his focus on Matt, taking off his own jacket and tossing it on the ground. He was wearing a black button up shirt underneath with the collar of it popped out.

"Since you're no dummy I assume you're going to know that I only want you and I fighting." he told him. "But since I can't have my boys doing nothing, I guess they'll have to fight your Meowth all by herself. Sorry if that sounds a little unfair, but it's just the way it is."

Matt pulled out a Pokeball from his side.

"She's not my only Pokemon." he told him. The leader raised his eyebrows curiously as Matt throw down the Pokeball. With a red flash, Raticate appeared, looking as pissed and terrifying as ever. Some of the men cringed, tightening their grips on their weapons. The leader smiled at Matt.

"I like where this is going." he told him. "Your Pokemon against my men and you against yours truly. It's brilliant if I do say so myself. But before we start, I'd like to ask one question."

Matt looked at him, not sure how to respond.

"I suppose." Matt told him unsure. The leader gave an unexpectedly warm smile.

"What's your name?" he asked him. Matt adjusted his hat, still on backwards with some of his hair sticking out the front wiggling.

"It's Matt." he told him. The leader smiled as if something sounded funny to him.

"You got a last name?" the leader inquired humorously. "There's a lot of people named Matt, you know."

Matt gave him a stone-like stare.

"And I'm the only one worth remembering." he told him cockily. The leader smirked back at him impressed by his display.

"The name's Gavin." the leader told him. "And it's a pleasure to finally meet somebody with a least a little promise of a challenge."

Matt grabbed Emie and Raticate's ball, turning them both to blue.

"Let's hope I don't disappoint." Matt responded as cocksure as ever. He looked over to Emie and Raticate. "You two attack the rest of the gang, but don't interfere with this man and I." Matt looked back to Gavin with a fire returning in his eye. "This is personal."

Matt pointed his hand towards the gang behind Gavin.

"Attack!" he ordered. "Don't hold back!"

Raticate and and Emie charged towards the gang, both passing by Gavin with the air of them running past him waving his spiked hair.

"Let's do this." Gavin told him ready to fight.

Matt took the initiative and ran towards him with his arm pulled back. He threw a punch, only to have it hit away from him. Gavin had redirected his blow to the side by pushing Matt's arm away from him in mid swing. Following his move, he kneed Matt in the gut.

The knee to the gut was painful, but wasn't nearly enough to stop Matt. He swung his fist at Gavin, managing to get a hit on his shoulder, soon followed by another hit to his chest. Gavin jumped back, impressed by how Matt's punches stung him.

"I've gotta say, kid," Gavin told him as if jealous, "I wish I had half of your skill when I was your age. You aren't a pansy, that's for sure."

Matt swung another punch at Gavin, barely missing as he moved his head to the right.

"Thanks for the complement," Matt told him, aiming for Gavin's face as he pulled back his other arm. He smashed his fist into his nose with Gavin's head thrashing backwards. "but that isn't gonna prevent me from going all out on you for stealing my Growlithe."

Gavin was still in a fighting stance, wiping the blood from his nose.

"I sure hope not, kid." Gavin said with some blood on his face. "I wouldn't want you to disappoint me."

Emie and Raticate were busy on the other side of the factory, fighting with all of their hearts. Emie landed a double fisted punch to a guy's chest, sending him flying back into a crate and completely shattering it. Her ears twitched the second she turned to see a guy charge up from behind her. Ducking her head as a baseball bat swung over her, she landed in a crab walk. Following through with her motion, she lifted both legs up with her hands on the ground and kicked the guy in the groin. It was safe to say that he was out of the fight the moment he landed on his side holding his balls. Tears of pain streaked down his face.

The sound of a bone breaking could be heard as Raticate threw a thug into a pile of guys. Raticate let out a roar of fury with his rat tail thrashing from side to side. One of the thugs was brave enough to charge at him from behind with a cricket bat in both hands. He let out a war cry, smashing it into Raticate's back. The flat cricket bat snapped in two with the Raticate turning around and glaring at the thug. Needless to say, the gang member realized it was a bad idea too late. Raticate preformed a headbutt with the member's skull sounding as if it had cracked. He was thrown on the ground uncontentious.

With all of her might, Emie leapt in the air and kicked a gang member in the face, just about snapping his neck from the impact of the heavy kick. She landed, forced to do a flip over someone trying to stab at her with a knife. As agile as she was, Emie landed on the other side of the thug with the knife as he looked around confused. Where the hell had she gone? Sweeping her foot under his feet knocked him to the ground.

Emie quickly picked up the knife as another thug ran at her with a metal pipe. Acting out of pure instinct, she slashed to the side, hitting across the back of the guy's hand. He swore loudly and dropped the pipe. The thug quickly backed off as Emie thrusted the knife at him warningly. The Bride had used a knife in Kill Bill and she was determined to harness the power of one too.

Matt and Gavin's fisticuffs match continued, with Matt blocking a swing by putting up his arm just in time. The blow hit the side of his forearm, hurting like a bitch. Gavin was about the same size as he was, but looked older and slightly more muscular. The two of them had just as much fighting experience it seemed, both landing and blocking more than just a few blows from each other.

Gavin jabbed into Matt's right side, making him lean over in pain. Another blow struck him across the face. Matt tumbled down onto the factory floor on his back with Gavin looking a little disappointed.

"Is that really all you've got?"

Matt put his hands behind him and sprung upwards onto his feet. He landed without stumbling, back into his fighting stance. Before responding, Matt bashed his knuckles into the side of Gavin's face.

"I'm just getting started." Matt told him, spitting some blood out of his mouth onto the floor.

The two of them had been going at it without stopping, both with blood on their faces and bodies. Matt had landed a few blows to Gavin's face, cutting his lip open with another cut under his eye. Gavin had also gotten Matt pretty good with the side of his face bruised and a cut on his eyebrow.

Matt did a low kick, getting Gavin right in the side of the shin. He fell down on his knee with Matt landing a perfect punch to his forehead. Gavin flew onto the ground and landed on his back with the sound of it either popping into or out of place. Matt couldn't tell, but assumed it wasn't good for Gavin. Either way, Gavin wasn't about to throw in the towel just yet. He got up on his feet once again and raised his fists. Before Matt could punch him again he was caught off guard by the sound of a gunshot. He looked over from where it had come from, seeing that Raticate had been shot.

A sucker punch from Gavin awoke him from his distraction.

"Better not lose focus," Gavin told him with Matt hopping back out of his reach, "you just might need it if you're going to stay up on your feet."

The bullet had pierced Raticate's skin, but didn't fully go in all the way. The thug that had pulled the trigger was using a small handgun: a 22. pistol. Emie's attention was focused on him now, even as another thug was in the process of charging at her. Pulling her arm back and hoping for the best, Emie lobbed the knife in the direction of the gang member with the gun. The blade stabbed into his arm, forcing him to drop the gun as he began to wail in pain.

Emie was tackled to the the ground by the charging gang member. She landed with him on top of her, wielding a nail hammer. He raised it and thrusted down towards her head, but was stopped as a large, rodent like paw grabbed onto his arm. The Raticate squeezed so hard on his forearm bone snapped in two. He lifted the guy into the air and threw him into a nearby crate.

He helped Emie up, soon feeling someone from behind jump on his back. He let out a yell when a knife was stabbed into his back. Emie refused to let Raticate be attacked, running around him and jumping into his attacker. She pulled the thug off of Raticate with the knife still in his back, pounding on the guy's face repeatedly.

"You aren't gonna hurt Raticate anymore!" she cried upset.

Matt blocked another attack by grabbing Gavin's fist in mid punch. The two of them strained and struggled to overpower one another, now in a stalemate.

"You're a hell of a fighter, kid." Gavin told him with blood running down his face. Matt felt a burning in his lungs, possibly from internal bleeding from all of the hits he had taken to the chest.

"You're definitely no pushover yourself." Matt responded, still holding onto Gavin's fist. "No matter what happens though I'm not going to quit."

"Now that's the spirit." Gavin told him with his muscles feeling strained. "But I'm wondering what's keeping you motivated to keep fighting. What is it that's keeping you going?"

Matt pushed back against Gavin, shoving him away finally. He jumped in the air and did a spin, kicking Gavin in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick. Right after, Matt lunged forward and unleashed a fury of uppercuts into his chest with Gavin only able to just take them as they came. One after another, Matt pounded his fists into his chest. After what must have been the fourteenth blow, Matt headbutted him with a vengeance.

Gavin landed on the floor with his eyes barely open, still staring at Matt.

"I made a promise to someone I care about." Matt told him as Gavin slowly closed his eyes.

Matt was victorious.

He quickly glanced towards the stairs and at the room up on the second floor made of metal with beams supporting it from below. Sissy had to be in there. There was no other place she could be. He darted for the stairs and ascended them as fast as he could.

Emie and Raticate were still fighting as hard as they could, both feeling exhaustion from fighting the gang. They had only taken out twenty-two in total, with Emie taking down eight and Raticate taking down fourteen. With the rest of the gang circled around them, Emie and Raticate had their backs against each other, both with their hands raised, ready for action.

The sound of the factory door opening caught everyone's attention, even Emie and Raticate's. Entering was a Vulpix in body armor and a loaded assault rifle in her hands. On both of her hips were handguns. She raised her assault rifle, knowing who her targets were.

"Engaging hostiles." she said with little emotion.

Matt almost broke down the door before he could get it to unlock. It swung open with Sissy's head lowered inside. She was crying, not evening bothering to look up. Her body was shaking so bad that Matt could physically see her vibrating. He rushed over to her, kneeling down and embracing her. She was in such a state of shock it took a while for her to register that Matt was hugging her.

"M-Matt?" she said with tears rolling down her face. He looked at her face, quickly examining to see if there were any marks or bruises.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her. She couldn't believe he of all people, storming in there with blood all over his face, was asking _her_ if she was okay. Enraged, she shoved him off of her, standing up from the cold metal flooring.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she screamed. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

Matt couldn't understand what was wrong with her.

"I came here to rescue you." Matt told her, grabbing onto her arms. "God, they didn't hurt you, did they?!"

Sissy shook her head.

"They didn't do anything to me!" she yelled. "Look at your face! You're covered in blood and look like you're half dead!"

Matt smiled at her with a little blood showing in his mouth.

"I probably do look like shit after the fight their leader put up." he joked. Sissy hit Matt in the chest with him not feeling a thing. He was so numb from the adrenaline rush he was experiencing that made him feel like nothing could hurt him anymore.

"You idiot!" she said with tears streaming down her face. "Why the hell did you come here?! Why didn't you just leave me here?!"

Matt held onto the sides of her shoulders as kept hitting him.

"You could have died!" Sissy yelled with tears running down her face. "Because of me!"

Matt looked her in the eye, feeling a little light headed, but for the most part fine.

"Sissy," he told her trying to calm her down, "I'm alright. I wasn't just going to leave you here. I promised I'd never leave or abandon you, didn't I?"

Sissy looked at him surprised with her mouth hanging open. Matt had gone through god knows what to save her, of all people. More tears began to flow down her face. Collapsing forward into his arms, now weeping hysterically, unable to hold back at all.

"Why are you so good natured?!" she cried, almost pleading he'd answer. "Why do you always forgive me after what I say and do to you?! You should have just left me here to die!"

She wrapped her shaking arms around him and cried, getting tears on his shirt. Sissy could feel him wrapping his arms around her too, holding her tight.

"Because I care about you." he told her. "I'm never going to leave you no matter what you say or do to me. Nothing you can do will change the way I feel about you."

The way he felt about her?

Sissy looked up wanting to look at Matt, but saw something more dreadful than she could have ever imagined. Behind Matt was the leader, standing in the doorway. He was covered in his own blood from Matt's beating, holding a switchblade in his hand. Matt saw the horror in her eyes, quickly turning around with his back pressed close to Sissy.

"You're not gonna lay a damn hand on her!" Matt told him sternly. Gavin shook his head.

"I'm not interested in her." Gavin told him raising his knife in the direction of Matt. "We're not though yet."

The sound of gunfire below was heard, but more than Gavin knew was possible from a 22. This was an automatic rifle he was hearing. He looked over the banister of the metal walkway in confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself. His question was only answered by Matt ramming into him. The second round of their fight had begun.

Valery unloaded her rifle in the direction of the gang members, hitting her mark with precision and ease. Bullets would tear into one of them with the thug she shot falling on their face either dead or in agonizing pain. The members panicked, scattering out through the factory as she continued to fire. Emie and Raticate had no idea what was going on. Emie hit the floor and was covering her head. Raticate on the other hand just stood there and stared at the Vulpix, not even slightly afraid of her whether or not she were friend of foe.

The empty magazine of the gun hit the concrete floor with Valery reloading a new ammunition clip into her assault rifle. Bullet casings hit the cement floor, bouncing from the impact as she fired in bursts. The recoil of the gun didn't effect her accuracy in the slightest. Her gun clicked empty with Valery tossing it to the ground and pulling out her handguns, both being standard nine millimeters.

She ran forwards with guns to her sides as most of the thugs lay on the floor either uncontentious, dead, or unable to move in extreme pain. Valery passed right by Emie and Raticate as if they weren't even there. Emie looked up from the ground, seeing her six small tails move with her as she started firing her handguns.

A thug took a bullet to the chest followed by another to the kneecap. Another was shot as he was trying to run behind one of the crates for covers, only to get shot in the ass several times. Out from nowhere, a bullet hit her in the back with her body armor taking the blow. Still, the force of the 22. that hit her still hurt more than she liked to admit. She turned around, seeing the thug standing there with the gun in both hands. Valery took a deep breath, extending out her chest.

"Fwaahh!" Fire shot out of her mouth in a large jet scream, engulfing the thug in flames. He screamed in agony, only to have Valery lift her handguns back up and start firing into him as he burned alive. Emie blinked, staring at her as she shot mercilessly. She started blushing with her tooth protruding.

One hundred feet above the ground level, Matt decked Gavin across the face as he stumbled backwards onto the metal catwalk. Only being about 8 feet wide, there wasn't a lot of room to work with. The metal handrails looked rusty and dilapidated, probably unable to withstand much force if needed to. Matt attacked once again, kicking him in the side as Gavin clung onto his knife.

Even in his critical state, Gavin wasn't going to give up so easily. He and his knife with the name "Widow Maker" written in large white letters on the side were going all the way with this fight. He had no intention of losing. Neither did Matt.

Gavin swiped at Matt, making him jump backwards. He stabbed, almost getting Matt in the shoulder and would have if he hadn't moved to the left. Matt pulled his fist back, throwing it at Gavin's dominate arm. The impact made him drop his knife, landing on the side of the catwalk. Matt preformed a low kick in a circular motion, doing a 360 degree spin in the process. He knocked Gavin to the ground on his side. Quickly grabbing for his knife, Gavin reached out with Matt almost preventing him. Almost.

Before he could kick the knife away, Matt's shin was slashed by Gavin, who had reclaimed his switchblade. He swore, stumbling backwards and almost falling. Blood seeped from Matt's leg, with a dark maroon color soaking his lower pant leg. Matt gritted his teeth, refusing to give up as Gavin got onto his feet once again. With a limp in his step, Matt hopped forward, punching Gavin multiple times with droplets of blood falling down off the catwalk, falling to the ground floor. Gavin plunged the knife towards him with Matt darting his hand outward. The blade of the knife stopped.

Matt had caught it with his bare hand.

Blood dripped down from Matt's palm with his fingers wrapped around the blade. With a single jerk, Matt pulled the knife from him. His heart raced as he spun the knife around and stabbed Gavin in the shoulder with it.

There was no cry.

There was no look of pain.

Gavin only smiled, tripping to one side.

"Looks like I've found a worthy opponent after all."

Gavin couldn't hold his body up any longer with his knife now stuck within his shoulder. He leaned onto the railing with a loud creaking noise emerging from the bar. As to be expected, it gave way, with Gavin hurdling towards the ground floor with it.

Matt and Gavin made eye contact as he fell.

He was smiling.

There was a silent pause soon followed by the noise of a body smashing into a pile of crates.

Matt's body trembled in pain, covered in his own blood with his hand hurting the most out of all his body parts. He lifted his right hand, noticing that there was a lot of blood.

And is pinky finger was missing.

Matt looked down, seeing it laying on the catwalk. It was hard to tell what finally did Matt in: the fact that he had more injuries than he could count or that he was staring at his served finger.

Matt collapsed on the catwalk, staring up at the ceiling of the factory.

Sissy was now by his side somehow, unsure when she had gotten there. Time didn't seem that important any more to Matt. He felt like he was sinking. Sissy's lips moved with tears in her eyes, but he couldn't hear anything. The last thing he remembered seeing was her beautiful brown eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Chapter 19**_

Warmth.

Liquid.

Awakening.

Fairly bright.

Green water?

What had happened? Where was he?

His thoughts felt so...limited.

Matt was surrounded by a green substance, suspended in a closed off tube. Breathing in the fluid came naturally to him. It was just like air, though it felt weird with the substance sliding in and out of his lungs. The way it went down his throat felt like he were swallowing a slug.

Matt hadn't the slightest idea how he had gotten there, or where 'there' was for that matter. The last thing he remembered was falling on the catwalk with Sissy rushing over to him. Panic began to set in for Sissy. Was she alright? Even in his current state, Matt was more worried about her than himself.

He heard a noise buzz with the green watery fluid draining from below into a drainage pipe. Matt's feet suddenly felt cold, now physically standing in the tube. With air flooding in from a vent above, Matt started coughing up the green fluid, removing it from his lungs. Some of it even went out his nose, looking like snot. He raised his hand to wipe the fluid away, seeing that his pinky was back. Had he just imagined losing it?

The tube slid open with cold air hitting his body. The lights in the room were damn bright, making him shield his eyes momentarily. Stepping out proved to be easier than he expected. Matt hadn't felt this physically well in years; maybe ever.

Brightness turned into shapes of things, soon with the shapes gaining more definition such as color and volume. The weird rectangle he saw turned into a Daisy machine (the machine that healed Pokemon in their Pokeballs). The large square in the corner turned into a Refurbishing machine. A silhouette sitting on a chair was now a woman in a kimono.

It was Sissy. Her head was lowered as she slouched in the chair.

She was sleeping.

Matt approached her with her ears twitching. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing Matt's face next to hers. She jumped back in her chair from fright, but soon had her face grow red.

"Hey," Matt told her, seeing the fur below her eyes was slightly darker (most likely from lack of sleep) "I'm glad to see you're alright."

The fur on Sissy's face seemed to have changed from a dark orange to a red with her ears slightly folding as if shy. This was certainly new for her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. Sissy glanced down at Matt's body.

"Um...Matt..." she said still sounding shy.

"Yeah?"

She moved her head to the side with her black tipped ears completely lowered, trying not to show how embarrassed she was.

"You're naked." she told him.

Matt looked down, seeing he was completely naked. To make things even more awkward, he had an erection due to morning wood. He panicked, trying to cover himself up, but as all guys know, it's a little hard to do when you have a boner. The door that led into the back of the Pokemon Center opened. He turned his head, seeing Amber blushing a little. She couldn't help but to laugh.

"Nice ass." she said with a giggle. Matt's face lit up like a red light, backing away into a wall while covering his front.

"Gah!" he panicked, "Why the hell am I naked?!"

Amber laughed at him, grabbing his clothes that were on a nearby counter that had been folded up nicely. She tossed them to him with Matt trying to catch with one hand while still hiding his exposed self with the other. Luckily, he managed to get them all with only his socks falling to the ground. Matt stood there, unsure how to get changed with two women now in the room.

"When you fainted you were taken here by Sissy and the others." Amber explained as Matt stood there naked, still attempting to hide his manhood. "We had to put you in the Daisy Chamber due to your extreme condition."

Matt awkwardly stood there with Sissy glancing over at him, instantly jolting her head back to the opposite side of the room with her face brightening once again.

"I've got so many questions I don't even know where to start." Matt told Amber. She smiled at him, pointing at his bare body.

"Before you go asking questions," she giggled, "you might wanna put on some pants. As much as I enjoy seeing you naked, I don't think it's the best time for that. Not now at least."

Matt blushed as she laughed, turning around in the doorway with her hand on the doorknob.

"I'll go inform everyone you're awake while you get changed." she told him, shortly closing the door afterword. Matt gave Sissy a less than comfortable expression, who was still looking the opposite direction.

"Um," Matt told her, "would you mind not turning your head for a moment?"

That instant, Sissy's head thrashed in his direction, as if upset that he would imply that she would do something like that. Truly, irony at it's finest.

"Are you implying that I would try to look at you-" Sissy stopped, realizing that she had instinctively turned to yell at him, totally negating what he had told her. She quickly covered her hands over her eyes. "S-sorry! It's was just instinct!..."

Matt started laughing, still trying to cover himself as she hid her eyes.

"You instinctively try to look at me naked?" Matt joked. Sissy for some reason looked flustered, even with her eyes covered.

"W-what?!" she said as if panicked. "I meant yell in your face! You pervert!"

Matt dropped his clothes on the floor, grabbing his dark blue boxers with a chuckle of amusement as he pulled them up.

"You're the one trying to look at me naked." Matt told her still being playful. "So wouldn't that make _you_ the pervert?"

"Only in your filthy, sex ridden dreams!" she yelled with an odd faltering in her voice. Matt could tell she was embarrassed. He bent over and pulled on his pants as Matt proceeded to tease Sissy even further.

"Are you implying I have dirty dreams about you?" he asked her teasingly. Sissy's back tightened with her hands still over her eyes. Without a shirt (and still having an erection jutting out from behind his pants), he placed his hands on hers, moving them aside.

"Don't worry," he told her as they made eye contact. "I'm dressed now."

Sissy looked lost in his eyes with a strange tingle in her body as he touched her hands. She glanced down at his chest, staring longer than she intended. Quickly looking to the side with her face still visibly shy, her lips contracted as if holding something, perhaps herself, back.

"C-could you please put on a shirt?" she asked him politely. Matt frowned at her, pretending to be hurt by her request. She frowned with him, unsure why he was so sad all of a sudden.

"Am I really that unattractive?" he asked her, still leading her on. He sighed, lowering his head to pretend to be hurt. Sissy almost fell out of her chair as she shook her head.

"N-no!" she told him panicked, "I didn't mean it like that!"

Matt raised his head, looking at her with a large grin.

"So you _do_ think I'm attractive then?" Matt asked her with a laugh. Sissy looked down at the floor of the Pokemon Center back room shyly.

"Y-yes..." she muttered. Matt stared at her, blinking with surprise. There was a silence that overtook the room with Sissy not looking up at Matt. He smiled at her as she glanced up, unintentionally looking at his chest again.

"I was just giving you a hard time," he told her honestly. "but I'm glad you think so." Matt looked down at the floor, now with _him_ being the shy one. "I think you're very attractive as well."

She gave a weak smile back, standing up from the chair with her hands by her sides. They were as stiff as boards. Speaking of stiff, Matt's erection still pestered him. However, he refused to let it ruin what he felt like was a special moment. Sissy spontaneously hugged Matt under his arms, still with his shirt off. It caught him off guard a little.

"Thank you." she told him softly. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you before. I didn't mean anything I said to you."

Matt hugged her back with Sissy's head resting on his shoulder.

"Then why did you say it?" Matt asked her with his voice almost too quiet to hear. Sissy's ears twitched, registering what he had asked her perfectly. She knew she wouldn't be able to play dumb. Matt knew she heard him. With a sigh, Sissy moved her head slightly, adjusting her chin on Matt's shoulder as they hugged. He could feel her ear brush against his cheek.

"I...I don't know..." Sissy told him. "I guess... I was jealous when you bought Emie that collar."

She could feel Matt chuckle as they continued to hug.

"So the truth finally comes forth." Matt said aloud. Sissy felt so ashamed with herself.

"If I hadn't blown up at you like I did none of this would have happened." She told him sounding saddened. "It's all my fault."

Matt shook his head with his ear bumping into her ear.

"I doubt it." he said prospectively. "One way or another those guys would have tried to find a way to get even with me somehow. I just wish they didn't involve you in their attempt to get revenge."

Matt could feel her trembling all of a sudden. He softly rubbed his hand on her upper back with her starting to cry again. She gave a cute laugh, still crying.

"God," she said as if disappointed in herself, "I don't think I've ever cried this much in my life. I must seem pretty pathetic."

Matt tightened his grasp around her, holding her closer. Unintentionally, his erection pressed against her upper thigh. Matt thought she would have said something, but oddly enough she didn't. Sissy acted as if she didn't even notice, secretly enjoying the fact.

"You don't sound pathetic." Matt told her comfortingly. "You've been through a lot."

Sissy shook her head with tears dampening the fur on her face.

"You went through so much more." she told him as her shaking escalated to a new level. "You were covered in so much blood and that creep- god, he almost killed you..."

Matt felt her grip tighten.

"I almost lost you..." she told him with a tear running down her face. Nothing could get her to let go of him. Sissy held onto Matt with him feeling a tear land on his bare shoulder. Matt held onto her so tight he was worried he'd crush her. She only embraced him harder as well.

"I'd do it again if I had to." he told her. Sissy's shaking slowly subsided.

"M-Matt?" she said shyly. Matt pulled his head back and looked at her.

"What is it?" he asked her. She opened her mouth, but closed it and directed her eyes elsewhere from him. Matt smiled at her, still as she held him under his arms.

"I...um...I..." She shook her head, with Matt giving her a serious look.

"You can tell me." he said to her assuringly. "What is it?"

She looked at him with her head tilted down slightly. Never had she looked so beautiful.

"I lo..." she turned her head to the side, frustrated with herself. "I can't say it..."

Matt rubbed his hand on her back.

"Sissy," he told her, "whatever it is, you can tell me."

She shook her head.

"But I can't..." she told him shyly.

"Why not?"

"Because I...I don't know how you'll react." she admitted. Sissy and Matt kept eye contact with him still smiling at her.

"You'll never know unless you try." he told her with a smirk. "It's okay, Sissy. Just tell me what it is."

The fur on Sissy's face grew a hue darker from her blushing all of a sudden, looking away from him.

"I...I love you Matt..."

She felt his hand on her face, now returning her focus to him. Matt looked back at her with happiness in his eyes. Without holding back, he moved forward and kissed her. Sissy's eyes shot open from the surprise as he kissed her lovingly. He held the kiss there with his head cocked slightly to the side to kiss her better on the account of her having a muzzle, which was only a couple of inches, much shorter than a normal dog's

Her eyes slowly closed as they continued to hold the simple kiss that locked their lips together.

With countless questions and inquires, Matt told himself they could wait. At least for a little while.

Being with Sissy was much more important than any of them.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Chapter 20**_

It was early in the morning as all of them sat in the recreation area near the Pokemon Center's front desk, totaling in seven. There was Emie, Rachel, Raticate, Doug, Darrell, Chase, and Valery, all waiting for Alex to awaken. With nearly 48 hours of him being in the Daisy chamber, some of them had been starting to wonder if he'd ever wake up, but nobody dared vocalize it. And they didn't have to. It was written on everyone's face.

Emie was watching a movie about ninja's on the flat screen television. They flailed around with edged weapons and used kung fu moves as Emie wore Matt's jacket and held his hat close to her chest. Rachel was just as worried for Emie as she was for Matt. She had said very little and hadn't once batted at the bell on her talker caller like she usually did. With Matt's hat near her chest, she just sat there on the recreation couch, watching television with him always in the back of her mind.

Rachel sat on the couch next to her, not really paying attention to the ninja flicks that had been continuously playing for the past day and a half (it was some marathon on an action channel that they had stumbled upon). Her mind mostly wandered during that time, wondering if Matt was okay. The thought of him dying was almost too much for her to bare. There were things she wanted to apologize for and things she still felt she needed to do to make up for her previous blunders that had made his past years practically a living hell. She wouldn't be able to do that if he was pushing up daisy's. The irony that he was _in_ a machine called the 'Daisy' chamber was almost laughable. She probably would have too if Matt wasn't possibly going to wind up dead.

Raticate didn't really know how to feel about everything. He didn't know that much about Matt so it wouldn't be _that_ huge of a loss if he died. Sure, he'd feel bad, but it wasn't like it was going make him sob like a little girl over it. Matt and him had met on not so good terms, with Raticate trying to get revenge on him for hurting his Rattata friend. He could relate to Matt about that though. He went head on to save his Growlithe, even with the odds stacked against him. Although, he expected Raticate to fight a battle he had nothing to do with. If anything, Raticate felt melancholy during the two days of waiting, sleeping most of which on the floor in front of the couch Emie and Rachel were sitting on.

Doug was a worried mess. He'd had more cups of coffee than he had ever had in his entire life span, chugging it down in refusal to sleep. He was too worried for Matt to sleep in the first place. Perhaps it was because he had slowly gotten to like Matt and respected him for what he had gone through or maybe it was just his 'maternal' instincts kicking in. After pretending to be a woman for so long it had really gotten to his head, and he knew it. He nearly swore on his life to never where high heels ever again in his lifetime, but knew the promise wouldn't be kept if Darrell had anything to say about it. Doug nervously paced behind the couch, constantly thinking about the fate of Matt.

Darrell was sitting on the opposite end of the large, curved couch from Emie and Rachel, hunched over and thinking with his hands together in a prayer-like position. His fingers would tap together as he thought deeply about everything. With all honesty, he didn't give a single damn about Matt. Sure, he sorta thought he was interesting, but the only reason he was there was to know his condition. He didn't know what would happen to the Growlithe he had if he died. If it were to be sent off somewhere, maybe to relatives or family members, Darrell intended to be the first to know where. Hell, maybe he could even pass as a family member in an attempt to inherit her.

Chase was standing with Valery, going over how the mission had went. You'd think after nearly two full days of discussing about it they'd have finished their analysis. Chase was obsessed with trying to prove to his superiors that his Vulpix was up to snuff with their standards. No, he was trying to totally outdo their standards in every way. He never nagged or disciplined Valery on what she could have done better (which wasn't much considering she had done everything almost flawlessly), but gave constructive feedback that would help her know what to do next time. Even though he was a worried for Matt's well being, it was more on the account that he wanted the mission to look good. It would be hard to call a mission a success if someone other than their targets had died.

Valery showed no emotions the entire 48 hours; she was completely stoic. Although, there were a few times where she would notice that Emie was looking at her funny, wondering what it was that she was staring at. She was too dense to realize the possibility that she had a small crush on her, only thinking about things logically like she had done her entire life. She couldn't afford to let emotion get in the mix of everything.

The group were allowed to stay in the recreation area, sleeping on the couch or floor. Emie, Rachel, and Darrell all slept on separate parts of the couch. Raticate was content on the floor, pretty much sleeping the entire time anyway. As mentioned before, Doug couldn't sleep, constantly pacing back and forth behind the couch. Chase and Valery slept in sleeping bags like they always did. Nothing was really all that different except they were sleeping in a Pokemon center and not some mercenary war zone. It was different for both of them not to hear the sounds of gunfire as they slept. Considering the two of them were always on their toes, it was almost unsettling. Valery at night would wake up with a jump, believing someone would be in the shadows trying to slit her throat.

The one person that had been away from the recreation area the entire time was Sissy. She refused to leave Matt's location as he recovered, sitting in the chair closest to the chamber. She ate very little, hardly slept, and only left once or twice to use the restroom. Nobody pried about her doing this, but just assumed it was her being loyal to her trainer. Rachel even once made a joke that since she was technically a dog in a sense that she had to be loyal to Matt. It was just in her nature. Nobody laughed.

The sound of Amber walking towards them made everyone turn their heads, wondering what she had to say. By the cheerful look on her face, they assumed it was good news.

"He's awake and seems to be alright." she told everyone. "He's in there getting changed."

Rachel was the first to realize what that meant.

"Wait a minute," she said shaking her head, "isn't Sissy in there though."

Amber giggled as if she could read her mind.

"Hey," she told her, "I don't blame her for wanting to see Matt get dressed. From the glimpse I saw he's got a nice bod."

She winked at Rachel, with Rachel having some of her past flash before he eyes. Emie was nearly in tears from such good news, clenching Matt's hat even tighter than she already was with his jacket still on her.

"Matt is really okay?" Emie asked, wanting absolute certainty. Amber nodded comfortingly.

"Matt is going to be fine." she assured her. "Although some of the effects of the Daisy chamber might need some time to wear off."

Doug, nearly as relieved as Emie was, looked at Amber with both of his hands together.

"What effects?" he asked worried. Darrell had a strong urge to backhand his friend for acting like his adoptive mother, but held himself back. He just sat there on the couch and listened to the good news. At least things weren't going to get complicated. Now he just had to concentrate a plan to steal his Growlithe, but save it for another day. There had been enough drama during the past few days for Matt and thought he could at least give him a little time to not have to deal with anything.

"Nothing extreme," Amber said once again assuringly. "just some minor...physical things."

"Like what?" Chase asked legitimately curious. Amber was almost too embarrassed to say it.

"Well, he's experiencing more blood flow through his body." Amber told them. Nobody understood what she meant, with Rachel being the first to realize.

"You're saying he's got a hard on?" Rachel asked bluntly. Amber laughed, nodding her head once again.

"Yes," she told her, "and it's probably going to be there for a while. A least until Matt's body gets back into balance after such a long time in the Daisy chamber. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to wear off."

That exact moment, Sissy and Matt exited the back room of the Pokemon Center and headed towards everyone. Emie leapt up from the couch, completely jumping over it, and ran towards Matt. She clung to him and started crying like Sissy had done. She had also unintentionally rammed into Matt's dick, turning his face a shade paler from the impact.

"Emie thought Matt was dead!" Emie cried. Matt clenched his eyes closed in pain, letting out a distressed exhale.

"I'm fine, Emie." he told her with his voice sounding a pitch higher than normal. Emie looked at Matt's face as Sissy stood beside the two of them, watching their display.

"Why does Matt look so hurt?" she asked him. Emie glanced down, seeing his erection. Her eyes locked with her giggling. Sissy rolled her eyes at her, crossing her arms and looking around the room as if she didn't care. She could feel jealously settling in once again.

"I'm glad to see you're finally awake." Rachel told Matt. "After two days of being uncontentious I was beginning to think you'd never wake up."

Matt nearly choked on his own spit from hearing how long he'd been out.

"Two days?!" Matt said shocked.

"You were on the verge of death when Sissy carried you in here." Amber explained. "She was carrying you in both of her arms just like you had done for her when we first met. It was sorta nostalgic, but I never really got the chance to think about it until now."

Matt looked at Sissy, with Emie still giggling at the fact that he had an erection.

"I never did thank you for that." He told her with a warm smile. Sissy held back a smile of her own, keeping a facade of disapproval.

"Don't get used to it." She told him, throwing her classic line at him. Sissy turned around and started to walk off towards the front door with Matt and everyone else wondering where she was going. "If you don't mind I think I'm going to go for a walk."

Matt smirked at her as she glanced back at him.

"Just try not to get kidnapped this time." he joked. Sissy finally smiled, but quickly returned to a more serious expression, almost hateful.

"I wouldn't want to put you through that again." she told him sounding intentionally harsh. "Besides, I'm not sure I could carry you back for a second time. You're heavy."

She turned her head back in the direction of the front entrance, exiting the Pokemon Center with her bokuto by here side and a secret smile on her face.

Darrell stood up from the couch and joined his friend's side.

"I'm glad to see you're all right." Darrell told him. "Doug and I could hardly that bloody mess was you when your Growlithe carried you out of the factory." he punched Doug in the shoulder, who in return let out an 'ouch' and rubbed it in pain. "Doug here actually was about to faint."

"I didn't faint!" Doug yelled at him on edge from all of the emotions and coffee rush. "I might have thrown up, but dammit, I didn't faint and you know it!"

Darrell put his hands in his pockets.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, you big puss." Darrell came back. Doug punched Darrell in the shoulder, acting like he didn't feel anything. "You call that a punch?"

Matt interrupted the two of them before their argument turned into a fistfight. That was the last thing he wanted for the two saints who came to inform him on about Sissy.

"Thank you both for coming to warn me." Matt told them as Emie, still standing in front of him, poked his erection and letting out a giggle as it moved.

"Don't mention it." Doug told him. "We're just glad to help. Well, we better get going. Glad to see you're okay though."

Matt didn't get a chance to say anything else to them as they left. Doug however gave a friendly wave goodbye as they exited the Pokemon Center. Darrell was too busy plotting his next course of action on how to get his hands on that Growlithe.

Being the last to get up from the couch was Rachel, motioning to Chase and Valery.

"While you were busy getting your ass handed to you-"

"Hey," Matt interrupted her with a dirty look. "shut up, I won that fight."

"Whatever." she said with a laugh. "As I was saying, when you were 'winning' your fight, these two helped out tremendously. This is Chase and this is Valery."

Matt moved forward towards Chase, who did the same with his Vulpix following by his side. Emie did the same with Matt, sticking close to him as she blushed once again at the Vulpix, lowering her head from her shyly.

"I don't believe we've actually gotten to meet." Chase told him as the two of them shook hands. Matt felt a little exposed with his erection still showing behind his jeans. With Emie still holding his hat, he took it from her, lowering it down in front on her crotch.

"Your friend Rachel told us that you were in a tight spot," Chase explained, "so my Vulpix and I helped out. We're part of a PMC."

"PMC?" Matt repeated confused. Chase chuckled, realizing he wasn't speaking to someone that knowledgeable about mercenaries."

"It stands for Private Mercenary Company." he explained. "The city around here has been paying us to help out, although it's been practically peanuts compared to the other places we've worked. That fact aside, I've gotta say I'm impressed by the way you handled yourself against their leader."

Matt looked at his hand, moving his returned pinky once more.

"You wouldn't happen to know how I got my pinky back, would you?"

Emie started jumping with her hand raised.

"Emie knows!" she said excited. "Emie knows! Emie found your finger fall from above and Emie said to herself 'that's a finger!' and Emie caught it. Sissy told Emie and Raticate and-" she looked at Valery and blushed, glancing down at the floor for a moment with her train of thought momentarily halting. "Well, Sissy said you lost your finger, but Emie was smart enough to know that Emie had Matt's finger! So Emie ran behind Sissy with Matt's finger and gave it to Amber!"

Matt looked at Amber, expecting more of an explanation from her.

"The Daisy chamber reconstructs and replicates DNA code," she told him, "speeding up the process of recovery at twenty times the normal rate and even replicating lost limbs." Amber reached in her nurse outfit pocket and pulled out a plastic baggy. She extended it over to Matt, who took it unsure.

It was his pinky.

Matt looked at his new finger, wiggling it.

"Are you telling me I grew another finger?" he asked her almost not believing that was possible. But his new finger wasn't just an illusion. It was the real deal. He was remembering what Mom had told him about the Trainer insurance she had given her and how it healed severed limbs. He had nearly forgotten about her telling him that, feeling like it were ages ago since he had left Pallet. He put into his pocket, feeling his envelope of money. It reminded him of something he needed to do.

"I think you should also know that the leader you defeated is still alive." Chase told him. Matt stared at him as if he had misheard him. That was impossible. Matt had watched him fall to his death. Chase closed his eyes with a sigh, nodding as if he felt the same way. "His body was still in tact after he smashed into a crate that was filled with-" Chase once again sighed, feeling ridiculous about what he was going to say. "blow up sex dolls. It apparently managed to break his fall. My Vulpix shot at him, getting him a few times in the lower back, but he managed to escape out the back."

Matt could hardly believe what he was hearing. A man who was beaten half to death, had a knife lodged into his shoulder, and fell over 100 feet survived and crashed into a crate filled with sex dolls had lived?! This was certainly something for the books of cosmic humor. And for him to manage to escape after being shot and everything else the bastard had gone through was unbelievable.

"16 targets were critically injured and 18 are dead." Valery said with little emotion, only stating facts. "The mission was completed successfully with no ally casualties."

Matt found the Vulpix odd by how professional she was acting, nodding with a forced smile.

"Glad to hear it..." he told her not sure how to respond to such a statement. Chase glanced over at Matt's Raticate, staring at it as it slept.

"Now that we've gotten old business taken care of," Chase said, treating the fact that Matt was on the brink of dying simply as 'old business.' "I was wondering if I could purpose something."

Matt looked at him with Emie smiling shyly at the Vulpix, who in return glanced back at her blankly.

"What would that be?" Rachel asked, irritating Matt a little.

"He was talking to me, asshole." Matt told Rachel upset. Rachel got in Matt's face, grabbing his cheek and pulling on it.

"Well excuse _me,_" she told him tugging on his face. "I didn't realize you'd be such a whiny bitch after waking up."

"I guess it must have been after all the bones I broke." Matt told her with a glare as she continued to pull on his cheek. She rolled her eyes jokingly and let go.

"Okay mister action hero," she told him, "I'll leave you alone. I'm gonna head upstairs for a little while."

She left him and headed towards the elevators with Amber getting a few laughs out of their bantering.

"You two sure have a weird way of being friends." Amber told him. Matt shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder." he told her. Matt glanced back at Chase, continuing where they had left off. "What was it you were wanting to purpose?"

Chase glanced back at the Raticate as it slept soundlessly, not even letting out an occasional snore or noise in it's slumber.

"My superiors have been bugging me to have another Pokemon with me when I complete my missions." Chase explained. "They've told me only using my 'pathetic' and 'worthless' Vulpix isn't acceptable and have been threatening to relieve me of my position if I don't find another Pokemon to assist her on her missions. I compiled the damage your Raticate did to those gang members and I'm actually rather impressed. I know this might be too much to ask, but I want your Raticate."

Raticate raised his head after hearing his name, blinking with his eyes slightly crusted over from his sleep. He saw Matt standing there, smiling to see him. Raticate sat up with Matt looking at Chase unsure.

"I don't know if I could just give him away." Matt said with a frown. "He's proven to be useful and he's a good Pokemon."

Chase nodded, understanding Matt's reasoning.

"I understand," Chase told him, "but I assure you that it would befit him as well as yourself in the long run. I promise that once I sort out this issue with my superiors that I'll return him. But in the meantime I'll train and get him into top shape. By the time he comes back he'll be better than ever."

Raticate looked at Matt, then at Chase, blinking. Matt gazed at Raticate.

"Well," Matt said still unsure. "I don't know."

Chase put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"I can tell you care about him," Chase told him, "and believe me, I know what it's like to be attached. But I give you my word that with my guidance and my training he'll be one of the best damn Raticates known to man. I'll teach him discipline and how all kinds of techniques that will help you in the long run. So how about it?"

Matt looked at his Raticate.

"I guess that's up to him." Matt said. "What do you think Raticate?"

Raticate looked at Chase, who was standing proudly before the large rodent.

"You're a hell of a fighter," Chase told him, "and I'd like to make you even more deadly than you already are. How about it, champ? You feel like being the most feared and respected Raticates known to mankind?"

Raticate slowly began to smile, liking the sound of that. He nodded with a grunt with Emie frowning a little. She didn't want her new friend to leave, but knew that Raticate had to make up his own mind. She sighed and lowered her head with Matt putting his arm around her.

"It'll be okay, Emie." Matt told her. "Raticate isn't going to be gone forever."

She looked up at him a little saddened, but nodded anyway. Chase was more than pleased to hear that the Raticate wanted to be taken under his wing. Valery on the other hand was harder to read. She didn't show any signs of resentment or joy. She just kept her same profession gaze like she had been doing ever since Matt had met her.

"That's good to hear, solider." Chase told him. "But I'm going to need to see you in your anthro form to see what size of gear you'll be needing."

Raticate nodded, soon after with his large body glowing. His shape shifted, turning into a more human-like shape. He was completely ripped with muscles that would make a body builder proud. His abs showed clearly even through his gray fur with his tail even looking slightly muscular. Everything about him looked incredibly masculine. His face, his arms, his legs.

And his privates.

Amber and Emie stared at his exposed self, seeing how large he was. Matt frowned, staring down at himself, still with his hat covering his erection caused from the Daisy chamber. Emie looked at Matt confused, then back at Raticates penis, then back to Matt.

"Why is Matt's thingy so small compared to Raticate?" she said innocently. Matt's face flushed red with Amber and Chase busting out laughing. Raticate smiled with his eyes squinting closed, proud of his sexual girth. Matt looked at Emie as if upset with her.

"Not all of us are hung like horses, Emie!" he told her flustered. Emie shook her head, pointing at Raticate's crotch.

"But Raticate is _so_ much larger than Matt's." she said almost sounding sad. "Why is Matt's so small?"

Matt's eyes grew large with Chase and Amber nearly in tears from laughing so hard. Amber was holding her sides from the pain of laughing so hard. Feeling less of a man, Matt lowered his head, too embarrassed to show his face.

"Please stop talking Emie..." he muttered. Emie was only trying to understand why Raticate's privates were larger than Matt's, not understanding what was wrong with asking.

"But Emie doesn't understand." she told him almost protesting. "Matt's thingy doesn't look like Raticate's at _all_. Raticates is _really_ big and Matt's is so much smaller..."

"Shut up..." Matt told her feeling even less of a man now. Emie started tearing up, not understanding what she had done. Amber, managing to control her laughing finally, approached Emie. She whispered into her ear for a while with Emie's ear wiggling ever now and then as she spoke to her. Emie's face grew red as Amber explained how sensitive men were about their sexual sizes and also explaining the Raticate's had a much larger than average size, making all other men look like children compared to their privates. Emie almost started crying.

"Emie's sorry!" she told Matt, hugging him below the arms. "Emie didn't mean it! Emie thinks your thingy is special! And it's really nice! And...and Emie is really sorry!"

Matt, still feeling as if he had his masculinity torn to pieces, patted her on the head with his head drooping.

"It's okay..." Matt told her still a little embarrassed and hurt at the same time. He started walking for the entrance of the Pokemon Center as Emie still clung to him. Her feet were drug against the floor as she tried to apologize. She finally let go with Matt's hands to his sides.

His hat was still over his crotch, hung onto his erection like a coat on a hanger.

"I think I need to walk this off or something..." he sighed. "Even if it isn't that big..."

"Emie didn't mean it!" she pleaded. Matt walked out of the Pokemon Center with Emie tearing up with Amber and Chase still laughing their asses off. Raticate however stood there proudly, still naked.

Sissy strolled the busy streets of Viridian with a warmth inside her heart that she had never felt before. She couldn't help but to smile ever time she thought about the feeling of kissing Matt. Nothing could ruin her day. Life was good.

She had been walking around Viridian for nearly two hours, wandering towards the market district now after visiting the park. Passing people, who every now and then staring at her for being a Growlithe in a kimono, she made her way through the street that Matt and her had walked down a few days ago.

Passing by a familiar store, she stopped and looked in the window where the yukata had been. She frowned when she realized it was no longer there. Just her luck too. Although it wasn't like it mattered at all. Sissy had no money to pay for something like that, or anything for that matter. Still though, it was nice to look at and only saddened her to see that it was gone. Telling herself it wasn't worth getting upset about, she decided it was best to return to the suite. The thought of being close to Matt again made her feel warm inside.

Sissy entered the suite room, looking around to find that nobody was around. Neither Matt nor Rachel, or even Emie for that matter, were there. She would have seen them in the lobby if they were there since it was on the way towards the elevators. Her ears moved, only hearing the sound of the refrigerator running. Maybe they had gone out to do something without her.

The lack of sleep was catching up to her, feeling gravity weighting her down more than usual. With a yawn, she walked over to her room with her eyes watering a little. She rubbed them as she entered her room, blinking a few times when she saw something lying on her bed.

It was black and made of silk, with the design of dark red flames coming up from below along with a matching sash. It was the yukata that had been in the window. Sissy froze, just staring at it on her bed. She could hear someone behind her.

"Are you just going to stare at it or put it on?" she heard Matt's voice ask her. She turned her head, seeing him standing in his doorway. Surprise was written all over her face. She hadn't known that he was in his own room at the time she had entered. "What?" Matt said smugly. "You think I was dumb enough not to notice you were looking at that before? I'm not that dense."

Sissy smiled, trying to force herself to get mad at him, but couldn't do it. All she could do was hide her face from him with a large smile.

"You're an idiot." she told him hiding her face. She felt him touch her shoulders, looking up at Matt to see him smiling still.

"I love you too." he told her, kissing her on the forehead shortly after. Sissy's ears folded back with her starting to feel emotional around him. Something about Matt made it hard for her to control herself. He was so loving and caring that it was no wonder Emie was all over him. Matt teasingly pulled on the sash of her kimono, tugging at it.

"Well?" he said, "aren't you going to get undressed so you can put it on?"

Sissy's ears perked up from the surprise, getting red in the face with her fur turning a darker hue. She turned her head with a flustered expression.

"Not while you're here, you pervert." she told him with her mouth shrunken into a shy knot on her face. The feeling on Matt's hands on her sides made her tingle.

"I changed in front of you." he told her teasingly, rubbing his hands up and down the sides of her kimono. "And don't act like I didn't notice you sneaking peaks at me."

Sissy's fur seemingly got redder with her putting her hands together.

"Y-you saw that?" she asked him. Matt pulled on her sash with is coming undone. He dropped it to the floor with the front of her kimono slightly opening up as he smiled at her.

"I'm neither blind nor stupid, Sissy." he told her. She looked into his eyes as she always did, getting lost in them. He wasn't wearing his hat or his jacket, only his white tee shirt, jeans, and shoes. His hair was a slight mess. Sissy looked shyly at him as he put his hand on part of her kimono, but didn't make any sudden movements.

"Sissy," he told her, "just tell me if I'm going to fast."

She looked down at his hand on her kimono, shaking her head.

"You're not going too fast." she told him meekly. Matt frowned, unsure. Nevertheless, he braced himself and pulled off her kimono as it hit the floor, revealing her naked body.

Her breasts were about a small B cup, maybe a large A, being smaller than Emie's, who's were about a moderate C. Her hips were about the same size and had a large tail that went almost down to the back of her ankles. Matt didn't get a good view of her butt on the account that he was standing in front of her, but already knew it was perfect the way it was. He placed his hands on her hips cautiously, still unsure if Sissy was positive.

Matt leaned over to her, biting on her neck seductively, gnawing lightly as Sissy shivered. She accidentally let out a moan, slapping her hand over her mouth. Matt got a kick out of her reaction, chuckling a little.

"Sissy," he told her soothingly, "you don't have to be so scared about making a good impression. I love you for who you are and nothing you do or say is going to change how I feel."

Sissy felt herself blush even more. He moved closer to her ear as if to whisper.

"Everything about you is beautiful to me." he said softly, lightly biting on her pointed ear afterward. He tugged on it playfully with Sissy holding her hands together, trying not to make any noises that she thought would sound stupid or weird. But it was hard trying not to moan when Matt touched her. She felt special when he did.

Matt saw her large and gorgeous tail wag side to side as if excited. It wagged even more when he touched or bit her. With his hands on her hips still, he moved her close to his body.

"You seem happy." he told her. She looked at him with her mouth shrived up still with a small smile appearing. Sissy nodded her head with a cute laugh as her tail kept wagging.

"You wouldn't believe how happy I was when Rachel told me you liked tails." she said quietly. That caught Matt a little off guard, feeling a knot in his chest from embarrassment thanks to Rachel releasing that kind of information. "And it makes me happy you like canines the best."

Matt did his best to get over his embarrassment, smiling back at her. She had to hold back from moaning when he lowered his hands slightly, touching her butt. He didn't squeeze though, only holding his hands on it.

"You have no idea how embarrassing that was for me." he told her, rubbing his hands up and down her backside, making Sissy clench her teeth from holding back how good she felt. Even in Sissy's state of pre-bliss, she had a question pop in her head.

"Matt?" she asked him softly. He looked at her as if to say 'what is it?' "How does she know about that in the first place? I know she mentioned your ex's knew, but how does _she_ know? Did you tell her?"

Matt felt himself get a little shy concerning the subject.

"I'd rather not talk about it..." he told her honestly. She felt him squeeze her butt, toying with it after she let out a soft moan of delight, feeling the urge to cover her mouth afterward. Something about the way he progressed made her wonder if he were trying to distract her from proceeding with the questioning. However, she was in no position to fight him. She was enjoying herself far to much to do so.

He moved his hands back to her hips, moving them slowly up to the edges of her breasts. Matt made eye contact with her, once again unsure about what he was going.

"Are you sure I'm not going to fast?" he asked her. "It's okay if you want me to stop."

Sissy shook her head shyly at him with her tail still wagging.

"I...I don't want you to stop..." she told him innocently. Matt grinned back at her, moving his hands on her breasts. Her eyes closed as he kneaded them gently. He occasionally toyed with her nipples as well with Sissy clenching her mouth closed in fear she let out another moan. Matt thought she looked cute trying to not make noise.

"I'm sorry..." she told him suddenly. At first Matt thought she meant that she wanted him to stop, but realized that wasn't he case. She glanced down at her breasts with her hands by her sides. "I know they're not that great..."

Matt frowned at her, almost upset that she would put herself down like that.

"Hey," he told her, "don't talk like that. Ever. You're breasts are perfect the way they are."

She shook her head, shyly looking away from him.

"But they're so small." she told him sadly. Matt removed his hands from her chest and placed them on her face, making her look at him.

"No they're not." he told her. "I like them they way they are. They look adorable."

Sissy's smiled from his complement, still with her hands shyly by her sides. Matt moved his hands to her shoulders, kissing her contently. The two of them kissed for short while, simply holding it there. They didn't move lips or use tongue. Matt could tell she wasn't ready for that yet. They moved their heads back after a few seconds, looking into each others eyes again. The look in Sissy's eye almost worried him. It was like she was afraid of something.

"What's wrong?" he asked he asked her concerned. She looked down at him as he motioned his hands up and down her shoulders. Never had Sissy seemed so distraught. "I don't mean to keep bringing this up, but I hope I'm not going to fast for you."

Once again, Sissy shook her head, gazing into Matt's eyes deeply.

"No," she told him, "it's just that I'm still..."

"Still what?"

Sissy looked down at the floor shyly.

"I'm still a virgin..." she muttered. Matt kept rubbing her shoulders, giving her a peck on the lips. She looked at him as if surprised that he took her news so well.

"It's okay Sissy." he told her. "As long as you don't mind doing this."

Sissy looked at him with her smiling even shyer than before.

"I'm just a little nervous." she admitted. "but I still want to do it." Sissy moved close to Matt, embracing him. "I want you to be my first."

She felt his hands on her back, still gently rubbing against her fur.

"Okay." he told her comfortingly. He moved away from her, grabbing the yukata on her bed and placing it on the nightstand, folding it up nicely. With it now folded, he grabbed Sissy by the shoulders and lowered her onto the bed with her head rested against a pillow. Matt started taking off his clothes with Sissy watching him with timidness.

Matt tossed his shirt to the ground and kicked of his shoes as Sissy laid on her back, totally naked with her legs closed together. Shamelessly, Matt dropped his pants to the floor along with his underwear, this time having an erection that wasn't caused from the Daisy chamber. Sissy blushed immensely at his naked self, staring at every inch of him while he did the same to her. Sissy's legs had a nice shape with her tail resting beneath them. Slowly as if to not startle her, Matt made his way onto the bed and inched his way on top of her. He stopped with his hands and knees resting on each side of her with his privates close to hers.

"Are you completely sure about this?" Matt asked her. "I just want to be sure."

Sissy nodded, although glanced at the open door as if worried someone would pop around the corner. Matt smiled at her, shaking his head.

"Rachel and I decided we're going to head out for the Viridian forest today." Matt told her. "She's already got her stuff with her and is picking up some last minute things in town. Emie wanted to tag along with her with all of us agreeing to meet in the lobby when we're all ready to go. Nobody's going to come in here. I promise."

Sissy smiled, nodding her head with her hands on her stomach. Matt grabbed for his privates, positioning himself better over her. He put the tip of himself against her, pushing slowly inward. Her vaginal walls were already moist from her excitement. Sissy cringed a little as he finally made his way inside. It was slightly painful.

"I promise I'll go slow." Matt told her. "Just let me know if you want me to go slower or stop."

Once again, Sissy nodded, soon letting out a sharp inhale as he pumped inward. Matt began as slow as he could, worried that he was hurting her from her facial expression. A part of him was saying to stop in fear he was putting her through to much pain. She was really tight.

Sissy had her eyes closed as a small droplet of blood got on the bed below. Matt felt like he was torturing her, but proceeded anyway, praying she'd tell him to stop if it was too much to handle. He kept thrusting slowly with Sissy's back jolting every time he did. Her ears would twitch if he pushed far into her. Sissy let out a subtle moan as Matt paced himself.

His thrusts grew faster over time as Sissy's hands clenched into fists from the physical pleasure, still with her eyes shut tight and her mouth puckered up. Matt wanted to make sure she enjoyed herself, bending down and biting on one of her nipples. Sissy let out a shrill of ecstasy with her eyes partially opening, remaining half lidded as he pumped into her and bit on her nipple.

"M-m-_muh_-att..." she stuttered as he continued. He removed his lips from her nipple and moved towards her lips, kissing her once again, still thrusting a gentle pace. Matt pulled his head back to see Sissy's eyes watered up. Was she in pain?

"I'm not hurting you to much, am I?" he asked her frowning. Sissy shook her head as he kept motioning with her ears folding back.

"D-do you remember when you asked me about my wish before the two of us left Mom's place?" she asked him trying not to stutter from the pleasure. Matt nodded, still thrusting into her. Sissy's eyes continued to water as he motioned back and forth. "My wish was to be able to protect those who I love. And...I love you more than anyone I've ever met in my entire life..."

Matt was flattered to hear such a thing, unintentionally buckling his hips into hers faster.

"I wanna protect you..." Sissy told him. "When I saw you dying after you fought the leader of that gang I panicked...I was so afraid I was going to lose you..."

Matt smiled at her.

"I love you too much for something like death to take me away from you, Sissy." Matt told her with seriously. "I'm never going to abandon you. Ever."

Sissy sharply inhaled once again, feeling her body overcome with pleasure. She felt something warm shoot inside her, filling her womb. Sissy's inner vaginal walls felt as if they were burning with pleasure as Matt continued after he had finished, refusing to stop until Sissy had reached her limit.

With a loud moan, Sissy clenched her eyes as she finally came with her own fluid dripping out of her and onto the bed, landing on top of the blood droplet from before. Matt slowed down his pace with Sissy breathing heavily and her eyes looking heavy from sexual exhaustion. Matt moved off of her, panting as well. He laid beside her and pulled her close to him.

"I love you Sissy." he told her. "That's why I'm not going back home."

Sissy looked at him with her previous orgasm still making her pant.

"But...but I don't understand..." she told him. Matt looked at her with a frown.

"Remember when you and I were sitting on the couch a few nights ago?" he asked her. "You began to cry, saying that I was going to abandon you. I made you a promise that I wouldn't leave or abandon you. At that moment I was going to call off the trip to get myself home, but not even a minute later Rachel showed up. I should have known she'd fuck everything up like she usually does." Matt looked at Sissy with a serious look.

"That's why I got so upset." Matt explained. "That's why I was pounding my head against the wall. Not just because she completely embarrassed me or ruined our moment, but also because I have to get _her_ home now. That's also why I got mad at her when she made breakfast. Rachel always intends to do good but always manages to screw things up for me somehow. But she's my friend and I'm not going to just leave her high and dry. I'm on this mission now because of her. When I told you I'd never leave or abandon you I meant it."

Tears ran down Sissy's face as she stared at Matt in shock, laying close beside him with their bodies touching.

"But you old life..." she said in shock. "You're giving that all up...for me?"

Matt laughed at that statement.

"My life back home sucked more than you could ever imagine." he told her. "But even if I did have a perfect life I'd still give it away to be with you, Sissy. You're worth more to me than anything. Besides," he chuckled, "I think Emie would be heartbroken if I just left."

Sissy's mouth was open as if she wanted to say something, but was in too much shock to. She reached around him, hugging him tighter than she had ever hugged him before. Sissy had cried the first time when she had opened up to him on the couch, she had cried once again when she watched him dying, and she had cried for a third time when she finally admitted that she loved him. However, this crying session put all of those times to shame.

"I love you Matt!" she cried. "I love you more than you'll ever know!"

Matt embraced her back as they laid on the bed, both completely naked.

"My love for you is eternal." Matt told her sincerely "It burns brighter and stronger for you more than any fire conceivable. You're the reason that gives my life purpose and meaning; a flame that keeps me alive. You're my flame of life, Sissy, and nothing will ever change that."

The two of them embraced each other for a long time, still with Sissy crying tears of joy and happiness.

An hour had passed with Rachel and Emie waiting downstairs, wondering where the hell Matt and Sissy were. Emie batted at her bell, as Rachel checked her backpack, double checking that she got everything she was going to need for their trip. Emie was still wearing Matt's jacket and now was wearing his hat on top of her head, making her look irresistibly cute.

"I wish Matt would hurry up." Rachel told Emie, who was too busy playing with the bell on her collar to care. "He's always making me wait for him."

Out of the corner of her eye, Emie saw Matt and Sissy walking side by side with his backpack on. Rachel noticed too, looking up to say something, but for some reason didn't. She noticed that Sissy was wearing a different dress-thingy. It looked beautiful on her. Both Matt and her looked as if they were the happiest people on earth, each having subtle smiles with the most relaxed and at eased expressions Rachel had ever seen in her life. If she didn't know any better she would have thought they were a couple or something.

"What the hell took you guys so long?" Rachel asked, almost demanding they answer. Both of them looked at each other, then back at her, both giggling about something. It frustrated Rachel. "What the hell is so funny?"

Matt shook his head, more at peace with the universe than he had ever been in his entire life.

"Nothing." Matt told her. Rachel rolled her eyes, motioning for them to follow her.

"Whatever," she said as the four of them exited the Pokemon center. "we better get a move on before it gets too late to travel. Some of the locals gave me some information on how to safely get through the forest. Pretty useful stuff, actually. Jeez, you're lucky I'm with you Matt or you'd _never_ get home."

Matt smiled with her trailing ahead of them.

"I think I could live with that." he joked with Sissy laughing by his side. They walked down the main street of Viridian city with Emie walking on Matt's other side, still wearing his jacket and hat, imitating the way he walked, carefully watching his feet to mimic his footsteps. Matt felt Sissy wrap her arms around his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder with a smile.

Matt was worried that Emie would be jealous, but to his surprise she was thrilled to see Sissy being so kind to him. She in return grabbed Matt's hand, holding it with her tooth protruding as they walked. He smiled back at Emie as Sissy clung to Matt's other arm contently.

And so, their adventure to find Bill continued.


	21. Chapter 21 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 21**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Clara wiped a tear from her eye as Kane finished the chapter and closed the book. They had been reading throughout the week, finally reaching the point of understanding as to why the book was titled what it was.

"So that's why it's called Flame of Life." Clara said sounding a little emotional with her thin rat-like tail with a jagged tip resting in her lap. "Sissy's so important to Matt that he considers her his 'flame of life'; the thing that keeps him living and what had kept him alive when he almost died."

Kane stood up from his chair with a pleased expression.

"That's very perceptive of you, Clara." Kane told her, setting the book down. "I'm glad you saw the metaphor."

Kane moved over to the window near his desk and stared outside to the sea. Clara sat in her chair with her legs crossed, still moved by how beautiful the last chapter had been to her.

"You came up with such a beautiful analogy." she told him. Kane turned to her with a smirk.

"I'd thank you," he told her, "but I can't accept credit for what isn't mine."

Clara looked at him funny.

"But you wrote the book." she told him confused. "How _isn't_ it yours?"

Kane turned his head towards the window once again.

"In life we are told many things." Kane explained to her. "Some of it is labeled fiction while other things are labeled as fact. Sometimes, the two of which are inner mixed, forming legends and folk lore that is passed from person to person. You see, I didn't so much as write this story as much as report it. I was the one who sifted through the fact and fiction, digging out the truth of what really happened."

Clara stared at him unsure.

"You mean this is a real story?" she asked him. Kane, without even looking to her, nodded his head.

"Yes," he told her, "and you and I have a lot to do with it."

Clara didn't know how to respond.

"I'm not sure I understand, sir." she said honestly. Kane chuckled, still staring out to sea.

"Soon enough, dear." he told her. "Soon enough you will."

Kane turned around, pulling out the chair to his desk. He sat down and opened one of his drawers, pulling out stacks of letters that had all already been opened. He moved them to the side of this desk, stacking them as neatly as possible, pulling out a sheet of writing paper from the same drawer. Reaching for a pen, he looked over to Clara, who was busy pondering what he had told her.

"Clara, sweetheart, isn't it time for you to take your medication?"

She had nearly forgotten. Clara got out of the chair and left the room, leaving the door cracked as Kane listened to her walk down the hall. He shook his head with a chuckle. Returning to business, he lowered his pen to the paper and began to write.

_**Dear Readers,**_

_** I cannot thank you enough for your support. Never had I imagined any of my stories to ever become so popular. All of your comments, messages, and general support keep me going, penning out each page quicker than the last. I ask your forgiveness for the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. I have a tendency to miss things, even after rereading it over and over again.**_

_** Many of you have asked questions, that I assure you, will be answered. One of which is why Clara and I are involved in the story. It may not seem like it now, but her and I plays significant rolls in the story, but for now you'll just have to accept the mysteriousness of our presence.**_

_** Flame of Life is far from over, only just getting started. There will be plenty of adventure, romance, with a few twists and turns along the way. The cast of characters will grow. Some you will love, some you will hate, and others you won't know how to feel about. Swords will clash, guns will blaze, magic will be slung, and action will steadily grow as well as the romance.**_

_** Again, I thank all of you from your support. You all have no idea what it means to mean to receive messages and comments of support and feedback. I promise to continue to please and will do my best to update regularly, even if it means working through the night and burning the candle at both ends. Thank you.**_

_** -Krimson Kane**_

Kane set down his pen with Clara entering the room and taking a seat once more. He smiled at her, standing up from his desk and heading over to his leather chair once more.

"Shall we continue?" he asked her.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Chapter 22**_

"I still say you were stupid to let that Chase guy take your Raticate." Rachel said as the four of them walked down the dirt road. Most of the afternoon had been spent with Rachel talking, which half the time was more like ranting. Heading north to the Viridian forest was going to take time- about a two days walk. Matt feared that Rachel would be blabbing or insulting him for a majority of it.

"It wasn't like I had a choice, Rachel." Matt told her, now with only two Pokeballs on his belt. "Raticate wanted to go with him and Chase _did_ help us out. It wasn't like I was going to tell him no."

After he had told Rachel that he'd let Chase temporarily have Raticate she was furious. Emie and Sissy didn't take to kindly to her when she said that he was the only real useful one either.

"I know I sound like a bitch-"

"What's new?" Matt snickered under his breath. Emie, who was still walking by his left side, giggled. Sissy, on Matt's right side, had a smirk on her face. Rachel, who still 'lead' the group, looked behind her with an evil glare. She too had heard him.

"Shut up, you ass!" she yelled. "I'm just saying that your Rat-thingy-"

"Raticate." Matt corrected. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she said irritated. "your _Raticate_ could have got us through this mess no problem. I don't mean to sound like I'm diminishing Emie or Sissy's ability, but I'm just saying."

Emie smiled at Rachel, still walking with her head turned.

"It's okay," Emie told her, "Emie understands that Rachel isn't trying to be mean."

Sissy had not other comment to add. She was still smiling from Matt's input.

Matt had gotten his hat and jacket back from Emie a few hours before. He had zipped it due to the wind that blew across the the empty plains they traveled through. The grass was lush, just like most of the grass Matt had seen when traveling to Viridian. It grew tall, making a ripple effect when the wind would pick up. The air for some reason smelt of pine cones, or at least to Matt.

Rachel turned forward once again, letting out a tired yawn.

"It feels like we've been walking forever." she told them sleepily. "I could use a nap."

"My feet are starting to get a little sore from all this walking as well." Sissy told everyone with her hand on her bokuto, glancing at Matt. "Perhaps we should momentarily stop to rest?"

Emie looked at Sissy on the other side of Matt, wondering why she was so suddenly kind to him. Every once in a while she would catch the two of them goofing around. Matt once went behind Sissy and jokingly pulled on her ears, making her laugh. Emie didn't know why, but she sort of felt jealous of their display.

"Emie isn't tired." she told everyone more serious than her usual carefree self. Sissy shot her a unfriendly glare.

"You certainly make up for your lack of intelligence by your energy level, don't you?" Sissy said coldly. The blood in Emie's veins began to boil, not even fazed by the chill of the wind anymore. She glared back at Sissy, tightening her fists.

"If Emie is so dumb, why can Emie count to twenty?" She asked rather proud of herself. Sissy stared back at her as Matt was uncomfortably between the two of them. He knew things were going to be getting out of hand fast. Sissy let out a roar of laughter, having to stop walking. Everyone else stopped with Rachel turning around.

Emie grew angry at her, feeling the urge to punch Sissy in the face.

"What is so funny to Sissy?!" Emie demanded. Sissy held her sides in pain from laughing so hard. Matt tried to tell her to stop, but his request went unheard as Sissy wheezed from the lack of oxygen.

"Are you pulling on my leg or are you really that much of a dolt?" Sissy asked still holding her sides from laughing pains. Emie pointed at Sissy, thrashing her arm upset.

"Emie is not pulling on your leg!" she cried, not understanding the phrase. "How could Emie be pulling on Sissy's leg if Emie is over here?! And Emie's name is not Dolt!"

Sissy's mouth hung open in awe.

"There should be an award for being that stupid." Sissy told her with her laughing beginning once again. Emie's face grew red from being so flustered by Sissy's rude outburst. Hunched over in laughter, Sissy looked up at Emie with the biggest smile Matt had _ever_ seen on her. "Can you even spell your own name?" Sissy asked between laughs. Emie's tail began to wave side to side, every now and then twitching with anger.

"Of course Emie can spell Emie's name!"

"Then spell it." Sissy said challengingly.

Matt and Rachel looked at each other with worried frowns, then looked over at Emie, who was nearly fuming in anger. She closed her eyes, thinking of the letters that formed her name.

"Okay," Emie said very focused. "Eeei...sideways Eeei...then there's the man with no arms...and a...loopy thing..."

Sissy was laughing so hard it was difficult for her to keep standing. Emie's face grew red feeling like a dunce. She had tried to learn the letters all by herself, but they were all really confusing to her. Tears formed in Emie's eyes. She quickly wiped them away doing her best to not be upset.

"Stop laughing at Emie!" Emie told her sounding on the verge of crying. Matt wasn't going to put up with it any longer, looking at Sissy upset.

"That's enough." he told her. Sissy stood up straight, still chortling.

"Oh come _on_," Sissy told him, "you can't tell me that's not funny!" she looked over at Rachel. "You know it's true too, Rachel."

Rachel shook her head and put her hands up as if surrendering.

"Hey," she told her not wanting anything to do with the situation. "I'm staying out of this."

Matt shook his head at Sissy looking disapointed.

"No," he told her sounding firm, "it's not funny. If I were to laugh at _your_ short comings you wouldn't think it was so funny."

Sissy looked frustrated at him.

"Why the hell are you taking her side?" she asked him, looking into his eyes. Matt once again shook his head.

"I'm not taking sides," he told her "I'm being fair. I don't laugh at you for having a short temper, do I? What gives you the right to judge Emie?"

Sissy looked into his eyes as if hurt.

"But Matt, she-"

"I don't give a damn if she can't spell her name." Matt told her sounding like a parent scolding a child. "She doesn't deserve to be mocked and laughed at. Do you understand me?"

Sissy frowned at him, looking down at he ground.

"Yes..." she told him sounding hurt. Matt sighed with Emie wiping her eyes constantly, trying not to cry. Without saying another word, Matt started walking forward, passing Rachel, who caught up with him. Emie and Sissy began to walk behind them, both with their feelings hurt.

Hours passed with the sun in the distance going down. Matt had checked the clock on his phone, seeing that it was almost four in the afternoon. Things had been quite for the most part with hardly anyone saying anything. Rachel and Matt walked side by side with Emie and Sissy walking behind them, every now and then casting evil stares at each other.

"I've been meaning to ask," Matt said to Rachel, "what all did you buy in Viridian."

Rachel thought about it with her legs feeling sore from all the walking.

"You know," she told him with another yawn. "just the usual stuff. Food, water, medicine, all the things we're probably going to need."

Matt frowned, wondering what else she had bought.

"What about Pokeballs?" he asked her. She looked at him funny.

"Why the hell would I buy Pokeballs?" she asked. Matt looked at her as if she were stupid.

"For Pokemon, of course." he told her. "You can't just go around not having Pokemon. It's not safe."

"And why not?" she asked. "You've got Pokemon so why should I?"

Matt groaned loudly with another gust making the hair sticking out of his hat flutter.

"What the hell was the point of coming to 'help' me if you're not going to have Pokemon?" he told her upset. She was beginning to be more of a burden than Rachel realized. He was going through all of this shit just to get _her_ home. The least she could do was actually pull her weight.

"Think of me as a supervisor." she told him with a grin. "I'm making sure you don't do something stupid or get yourself killed. I'm not bringing your home to bury you."

Matt badly wanted to just tell her, but didn't. It wasn't worth it. Just let her have her moment of importance.

"I highly suggest you _at least_ have one Pokemon if you're going to be on this trip with me." Matt told her, restraining the urge to blurt out everything. "Our odds of getting home alive would be better if you had a few."

She glanced behind them at Sissy and Emie, then looked back at Matt.

"Okay," she said, "which one can I take?"

Emie and Sissy's ears twitched, both stopping in their tracks horrified.

"Y-you're giving me away?!" Sissy cried. Emie's eyes watered up.

"But Emie doesn't wanna leave Matt!" Emie cried. They all stopped on the road with Matt shaking his head at all of them.

"I'm not giving any of you two away!" he told them. Rachel crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said I should use a Pokemon?" Rachel told him frustrated. Matt put his hand on his forehead, feeling a headache arising.

"I meant actually _catch_ your _own_ Pokemon." Matt clarified. Sissy and Emie looked relieved.

Rachel threw her arms in the air as if not giving a single care.

"I don't see what the big deal is." she told him. "We've been walking for hours and nothing has happened."

"That doesn't mean nothing will." Matt told her. "Danger in this world can strike at any ti-"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" a voice cried from behind them.

Matt turned his head, looking down the road from where they had come from. It was hard to see at first, but the white clothes and teal stripes on his windbreaker gave him away. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jimmy was running down the dirt road with his face red from exhaustion. Rachel looked at Matt confused.

"Do you know him?" she asked. Matt groaned, putting his fingers on his temples.

"Unfortunately." he responded as Jimmy ran towards them.

Now only a few yards away, Jimmy stopped running, pointing his finger at Matt. His shoes were caked in dirt and sweat was running down his face.

"Who do you think you are!" Jimmy yelled. "You can't just-" he hunched over taking a few deep breathes before standing up and pointing at Matt again. "You can't just run away from a fight like that!"

Sissy and Emie looked at each other, then looking at Matt in unison, who returned their vexed look with one of his own. Jimmy bent over trying to catch his breath again.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Matt told him honestly. "Did you serious run all this way to catch up with me?"

Jimmy stood up once again, grabbing a Pokeball off of his belt.

"I came for a rematch!" he yelled. Matt sighed.

"I hate to break it to you," he told him, "but we're sorta busy. I don't have time to fight you."

Jimmy nearly went berserk, pulling at his hair in frustration.

"Dammit!" he yelled, stomping his feet on the road. "I came to fight and a fight is what I'm gonna get!"

Matt seriously was getting sick of having to deal with people like him, putting his hand on his forehead.

"Look," Matt told him not really caring. "I'm sorry I beat you. Are you happy now?"

Jimmy held his Pokeball with an iron grip, baring his teeth.

"You made a fool out of me!" he hollered. "You turned my crew against me! Now you're gonna pay for what you've done!"

Rachel stepped forward calmly.

"Hey pal," she told him, "I really don't know what your beef is with my friend, but I'm sure you two can sort this whole thing out without a fight."

Jimmy looked at her funny, wondering who the hell she was. He had never seen her with Matt before. Trying to act cool, he dusted off his shoulders and stood there with his arms crossed with a lean in his stance.

"I didn't know Matt had a girlfriend." he said a little confused. Emie and Sissy looked flustered at his comment. Rachel looked even a little shocked.

They all spoke at once.

"She's not his girlfriend!" Sissy nearly yelled.

"Rachel is not Matt's girly friend!" Emie hollered.

"This dumbass isn't my boyfriend!" Rachel told him.

With all of them saying that at once, they all looked at each other from the strange outburst they had made together. Jimmy shook his head, in no mood to be distracted by love triangles and complexes.

"I don't give a shit who you are, flat chest," Jimmy told her, "this punk and I have unfinished business."

Rachel's eye twitched.

"Flat chest?..." Rachel said with a fire lighting in her heart. Matt quickly grabbed around her waist, being the only way to hold her back as she started flailing her arms and legs in Jimmy's direction. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING FLAT CHESTED!" she screamed. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Emie and Sissy blushed, seeing how Matt was holding onto Rachel. Her ass was planted right in his crotch as she thrashed about, looking very, _very_ wrong. The insults continued with Jimmy taking a step back from her. He began to turn pale from what he was hearing. Her yelling was so loud that nobody heard the rustling in the tall in the distance behind them. Both in camouflage, Doug and Darrell hid in the grass motionlessly.

"This is a horrible plan." Doug muttered, both of them wearing suits made of grass; gillie suits to be politically correct.

"It's a brilliant plan." Darrell told his friend, holding a dart rifle in his hands. He was lying down next to Doug in their gillie suits. "All we have to do is wait for that Growlithe to come into view, shoot a tranquilizer at her, then she's ours."

Darrell looked through the scope, moving the rifle slightly to the left. He could see Matt, his Meowth, the girl who'd been with them before, and Jimmy. The Growlithe however was hard to see considering their angle. Jimmy was in the way.

"I wonder what Jimmy's doing here." Darrell said with his finger on the trigger of the dart gun. His name along surprised Doug as well.

"Jimmy's with them now?" he asked. Darrell, having dark paint under his eyes, looked back at him away from the scope of the rifle.

"I don't think so." he told Doug. "If anything he looks sorta pale."

Both of them were silent, hearing yelling from Rachel. Although it was hard to hear, Doug could make out the words 'chop off your balls,' but that was about it. The rest just sounded like grunts and growls. Being so far away, it was impressive to even hear that with all the wind blowing.

"I think I might be able to make a shot if he moves out of the way a little." Darrell told him. Doug sighed, shaking his head with some of the fake grass on his suit following his motion.

"Then what?" he said. "Even if you can hit her it isn't like Matt isn't going to notice she's on the ground with a dart in her. The first thing he's gonna do if he finds out somebody's shooting darts is-"

Doug froze, feeling something crawling on his arm. He looked down slowly, seeing a green worm-thing on his. It was about six inches long, had dark green skin, and beady black eyes that seemingly pieced into his soul. It was a Caterpie. Doug started to shake. There was a freaking Caterpie on his arm!

"D-d-duh-Darrell..." he stuttered. Darrell didn't bother to look at his friend, still with his focus through his scope.

"What?"

"There's a Caterpie on m-muh-me..."

Darrell sighed, momentarily looking to his side at Doug. Sure enough, there was a Caterpie on Doug. Unlike his friend, Darrell had no issues with Caterpies or any other kind of bug for that matter. He was even about to go as far as saying it looked kinda cute on his arm.

"So?" he said still with the dart rifle in hand. Doug wasn't handling the situation as well as Darrell thought he should have been. "Dude, it's just a bug."

Doug looked at his friend beginning to shake even more with the grass on his gillie suit practically vibrating.

"_Just_ a b-bug?" Doug said sounding like he had a gun pointed to his head. "These things are v-viscous!"

"Shush!" Darrell said trying to quiet him. "Do you wanna get us caught?!"

Doug couldn't take it anymore, shaking his arm violently in an attempt to get it off of him.

"Get off!" Doug said on the verge of panicking tears. "Get off get off get off!"

In Doug's struggling, he bumped into Darrell, who in return accidentally fired his rifle. A dart flew at an alarming speed, untraceable for the naked eye. Darrell swore, looking through his scope. Doug had finally gotten the Caterpie off of him, taking deep and panicked breathes, acting as if he had almost been killed by it.

"That was a close one..." Doug said aloud.

"Shit..." Darrell mumbled. "I just shot Jimmy in the ass."

Due to the perfect positioning of the shot, nobody new what had happened as Rachel still continued to yell at Jimmy for calling her flat chested.

"-AND YOU'LL NEED A DOCTER TO PULL IT OUT AGAIN!" Rachel screamed, finishing her long winded rant. Jimmy felt light headed, not only from her threats but from a sharp pain in his backside. His feet gave way with him fainting on the his side, landing like a pile of rocks onto the dirt road. Everybody got quiet, with Matt still holding onto Rachel to make sure she didn't go crazy on him.

"What happened?..." Sissy asked puzzled. Rachel snarled, still kicking and throwing her arms, starting up a whole other yelling session.

"Emie thinks Jimmy couldn't take the yelling anymore and passed out." Emie commented.

Sissy looked at Emie as if she were crazy.

"From Rachel just yelling at him?" Sissy inquired. "That's highly unlikely."

"**I WILL EAT YOUR SPLEAN!**" Rachel said sounding a little demonic. Matt didn't know what to think of everything, but knew that it would be a bad idea to let go of her with Jimmy so vulnerable. With a single motion, he lifted Rachel up and twisted her around, throwing her over shoulder.

"Whatever happened," Matt told them. "we need to keep moving. I know it might sound a little harsh just to leave the spastic punk lying there, but I'm in no position to help him with Rachel the way she is. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Emie doesn't like Jimmy..." Emie told Matt with a frown. Sissy nodded her head, for once agreeing with her.

"I'm not very fond of him either." she told him with the wind blowing her hair. "I suggest we keep moving while there's still daylight."

Matt and the crew started to continue on their way, still with Rachel screaming and yelling at Jimmy over his shoulder.

Thirty more minutes of walking passed with Rachel still hung over Matt's shoulder. Even for being a little after four thirty, there was still plenty of light out. Sissy and Emie walked behind the two of them, with Rachel looking bored out of her mind.

"You can let me down now." she told him with a sigh. "I'm not mad anymore. Although I still wanna shove my foot up that guy's ass."

Matt chuckled, leaning forward and setting her down so she could walk.

"I forgot you were into that sort of thing." Matt joked. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Haha," She said with fake laughter. "just because I like anal doesn't mean you have to joke about it."

Matt shrugged with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Hey," he said with a chuckle. "just be glad I'm not evil like you were by listing off my fetishes."

Rachel shook her head.

"Like I give a shit if people know my fetishes." Rachel laughed. Emie cocked her head to one side as they continued to walk. She didn't know what a fetish was.

"What's a fet-fish?" Emie asked innocently. "I've never seen one..."

"Ditz..." Sissy snickered under hear breath. Rachel turned her head around to Emie as the four of them continued to walk.

"A fetish isn't a fish, silly." She told her sounding like a teacher speaking to a student. "You see, a fetish is something that someone finds attractive and or sexual. For instance, Matt's affinity to fur and other animistic features such as tails, animal ears, that kinda stuff."

Matt sighed. Of course she would bring that out in the open again as if it weren't personal.

"Thanks for reminding them..." Matt told her sarcastically. "You feel like naming off some other things I'm into while you're at it."

Rachel knew he was being sarcastic, but couldn't pass up the opportunity. She looked back at the Sissy and Emie as she kept walking beside Matt.

"Matt also likes big breasts." Rachel added. Matt's face flushed red.

Sissy frowned, looking down at her chest. Emie looked down at her chest as well, but with a much more positive attitude. She giggled, shamelessly squeezing them together.

"At least I don't get off to being tied up and gagged." Matt said as if to get under her skin. It didn't work. Rachel was absolutely right: she didn't care about what others thought about her fetishes. Unfazed, she smiled back at Matt.

"Matt also has a things for ninja's too." she told him. Matt's face grew even redder with Emie's excitement skyrocketing. Ever since she had seen Kill Bill she had a dream of becoming a ninja. With this new knowledge that Matt found ninja girls attractive, she nearly exploded with joy, only motivating her more to become one somehow even more.

"You have a thing for gas masks!" Matt told Rachel, still trying to do her one better. She didn't seem to care at all.

"So?" She told him with a smug smile. "Gas masks are sexy."

Matt groaned, giving up. There was no way he was going to win.

There was a moment of silence.

"Emie's tired..." Emie told everyone. Matt was tired, Rachel was tired, Sissy was tired, and now Emie had finally tired. They all stopped walking, ready to take a break. Sissy's ears perked up when she saw something in the distance. She pointed at the structure she saw.

"I think I found a place to rest." she told everyone. In the distance they saw a home next to another large structure. Nobody could decipher what it was. Matt looked at the crew, wondering if they were all in agreement to checking the place out.

"You think whoever's there would mind if we stayed a little while to catch our breath?" Matt wondered aloud, returning his gaze on the home in the distance. Rachel passed him, walking into the tall grass in the direction of the house.

"We won't know by standing around here." she pointed out.

Without further contemplation, the four of them headed towards the home, all feeling a little weary from traveling.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Chapter 23**_

The closer they got the better they could see the structure beside the house. Everyone made themselves busy trying to guess what it was.

"I think it's a hanger..." Matt said unsure. Emie giggled at his assumption.

"Don't be st_ooo_pid." she told him. "Hangers are small and have coats."

Matt shook his head, assumed by what she thought he was talking about.

"Not a coat hanger, goofball," he told her, "I'm talking about a hanger that stores airplanes. I can't imagine why one of those are doing out here though."

Sissy, with her hand still on the handle of her bokuto, was feeling a little tense for some reason. Something didn't feel right.

The field of tall grass ended and a dirt runway took place of it, now on the property of the home. The property seemed fairly sizable with a perimeter of grass around the place cut down low. The runway they were standing on wasn't small either. It looked like something you'd see in an airfield.

"Hey!" they heard a voice from behind them yell. They turned, seeing a man standing near the home. He was dressed like a pilot, wearing a leather jacket and an aviator cap with goggles resting on his forehead. He also had a shotgun in his hands, making Matt feel a little weary. "What the hell are you kids doing out here!? Don't you know this place ain't safe?!"

"E-excuse me?" Matt asked nervously. Sissy took a step forward as if to act as a human shield for Matt if need be. The gesture was flattering, but didn't make him feel any better. The pilot raised his gun, but not towards them. He had the barrel of his gun pointed in the air.

"Ah, shit!" the pilot swore. "Here they come again!"

Matt looked up at where he was pointing his gun, seeing a small swarm of bird-like creatures flying towards them. He squinted, using his Pokemon knowledge to realize what they were.

"Are those Pidgeottos?" Matt said aloud. Rachel looked at him worried.

"What the hell are those?" She asked for clarification.

"They're the evolved form of a Pidgey." he explained. Rachel shook her head at him frustrated.

"I don't know what those are either, dammit!"

"They're birds!" Matt yelled at her with a lack of patience. "Really big fucking birds!"

Rachel took a step backwards as the Pidgeottos in the distance flew towards them at an alarming speed. There were a total of five, all flying in formation.

"They look pissed..." she commented. Matt got into a battle stance, looking at Sissy and Emie.

"Looks like we've got company, girls." he said seriously. "You two ready for a fight?"

Sissy drew her bokuto from her side.  
"I am always ready." she told him taking a fighting position. Emie raised her hands with her fingers sticking out, imitating someone who knew karate.

"Emie is ready to fight the birdies!" she proclaimed with her bell jingling as she moved her feet.

"Here they come!" the pilot hollered.

The first Pidgeotto dive bombed towards them, with Matt pointing at it.

"Emie!" he ordered, "Take it down!"

Emie did what she was told, leaping into the air towards it with claws drawn. Like a cat catching a bird, both being a literal and figurative analogy, Emie crashed into the Pidgeotto with both of them hurdling down onto the dirt runway. She chopped down on it's face multiple times with the large bird letting out grunts of pain after every hit.

Another Pidgeotto was heading their way with Rachel quickly hiding behind Matt.

"Sissy," he said, "It's all you!"

Sissy held her bokuto with both hands and was motionless, letting the Pidgeotto dart towards her at a neck breaking speed. Just as it was about to ram into her, she swung her bokuto, slapping it in the face with the broad side. The sound of it's neck cracking made Rachel cringe, covering her ears as she continued to hide behind Matt for protection.

The pilot fired his gun, hitting one of them in the wing. It fell to the earth and limply smashed down onto the runway, sending up a cloud of dust when it hit the dirt.

The Pidgeotto that Emie had taken down was out cold after what had to have been over ten hits to it's face. He jumped off of it, looking over to Sissy who was slashing into the Pidegotto that she was focused on. Blood flew in every direction as she sliced into it like a knife cutting through jelly. Some feathers were sent into the air as she preformed an upper cut with her Bokuto, defeating the Pidgeotto.

The last two Pidgeottos were circling in the air, planning their next move. The pilot however wasn't so going to sit around waiting for them, taking aiming his shotgun. He pulled the trigger, hitting one of them right in the torso. Just like the last one he had hit, it came hurdling downward.

Being the only one remaining, the last Pidgeotto left came bombing downward with a loud and ear piecing screech. With red eyes and out for blood, the large bird headed straight for Sissy. Her ears twitched, looking behind her to see it coming at her.

"Sissy!" Matt cried, "Roll out of the way!"

In perfect sync with her trainer, Sissy jumped out of the way. She did a front roll on the ground and landed on her side. The Pidgeotto slammed into the runway at max speed hitting head first. He wasn't uncontentious, but certainly dazed from hitting his head so hard. Emie rushed over to Sissy's side to help her up. Being too suborn to accept her help, she pushed Emie away and got back on her feet by herself.

The Pidgeotto was just as large as the rest of them being six feet tall with a wide wingspan and body mass. It blinked a few times with it's vision hazed, stumbling forward with it's thin bird legs struggling to keep up with it's momentum. Sissy calmly approached it with only one hand on her bokuto. With her free hand, she grabbed it by the neck and impaled her bokuto into it. She pulled it out swung her bokuto to the side with blood she gotten on it flinging off. The Pidgeotto landed on it's side without even a grunt.

"That was pathetic." she sighed. Emie jumped it the air with a high kick, happy with her performance.

"Emie and Sissy beat those birdies good!" she said with a giggle. Matt smiled with Rachel exhaling relieved.

"Good work girls." he told them. "I'm proud of you both."

"Even though _I_ did most of the work." Sissy mumbled under her breath. Emie's ears folded back from her comment, looking down at the dirt runway suddenly disappointed.

"Yes," Emie told her as if she already knew the bitter truth, "Sissy did more work than Emie did..."

Matt frowned and crossed his arms.

"As far as I'm concerned you both did great and that's all that matter to me." Matt told them. Naturally, Sissy wasn't fond that he was negating the fact that she had done much more than Emie had, but held her tongue. She gave a dirty look when Emie smiled with her tooth protruding.

The pilot watched the four of them, lowering his shotgun down and shaking his head.

"You've got some pretty impressive Pokemon." he said walking towards them. "I guess I should be thanking you for saving me buckshots on those winged vermin."

Now at arms length, he extended his hand towards Matt as his Pokemon returned to his side. He politely shook hands with the man dressed like a pilot.

"You're quite welcome." Matt told him. "Looks like we can just in time."

The pilot shrugged, as if Matt and his Pokemon's roll weren't all that valuable.

"I could have handled it myself," the pilot told him, "but it's nice to have help every once in a while. The name's Don."

"I'm Matt." Matt said exchanging pleasantries. He motioned to his Pokemon. "The Growlithe in the yukata is Sissy and the Meowth in the shorts is Emie."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Sissy said with a small bow of her hand. Emie waved her hand at Don childishly.

"Hiya!" Emie told him. The pilot was taken back a little from surprise. It wasn't often he'd see Pokemon with talker collars, but never had he seen _two_ of them at the same time.

"And I'm Rachel." Rachel said introducing herself, extending her hand towards his. Don shook it with a curious look in his eye.

"And what might you four be doing all the way out here?" he asked them curiously. 

Don had led them into his home, being a humble cabin-like house. They all sat in the living room, which had airplane memorabilia everywhere on the walls. Matt and Sissy were sitting on a the small couch he had with Emie and Rachel sitting on the floor in front of them. Don himself was sitting in a nice recliner.

He'd also served them food: a nameless stew with potatoes and meat in it. Nobody turned it down considering they were all hungry after all the walking they had done. It was nice to just sit for a while as Matt explained their situation, leaving large chunks of the truth out of it. To keep things simple, Matt told Don that he was searching for Bill and left it at that.

Don listened to the events Matt was willing to share, explaining what they had all gone through during the past few days. He had his hand on his chin the entire time and occasionally nodded as if he could relate.

"You've still got a ways to go." Don chuckled, rubbing the gray stubble on his chin. "I can only imagine how tired you guys must be."

Emie nodded her head with a tired sigh.

"Emie really is tired." she said with her eyes feeling weighted from exhaustion. Don stood up from the recliner, looking at the clock on the wall. It was eight o'clock, but could tell by the sound of everyone's voice that they were all spent for the day.

"You're welcome to spend the night here if you'd like." he told them. "Unfortunately I don't have any spare beds so I hope you don't mind sleeping on the floor or furniture."

Rachel shook her head as it were no problem at all.

"I'm so tired I could sleep on nails." she joked. Matt leaned back on the couch with a smirk.

"Masochist..." he snickered. Rachel, who was sitting in front of him on the floor, elbowed his shin hard, making him bite his lip in pain. Don chuckled at their display with a smirk soon forming on his face.

"Are you two a couple?" he asked Matt and Rachel. Both of them looked at him with surprised glances, looking at each other shortly after. The two of them burst out with laughter. Don took their laughing as a no. Sissy and Emie however weren't so sure. They looked at Matt and Rachel as if waiting for an answer.

An answer was never given.

Don smiled, giving a short bow.

"You'll have to excuse me," he told them, "I have work to do in my hanger. Perhaps tomorrow we can properly get to know each other. I've never been good at having company, so I apologize."

"It's quite alright." Matt told him. "Thank you very much for letting us stay the night."

"No problem." Don told him heading for the front door. He opened it, glancing back at Matt and his small crew.

"If you need me I'll be outside working." he said with a smile. Don closed the door with the dim light of his house illuminating the living room. Matt looked at the girls, wondering where they were all going to sleep. He stood up and moved past Rachel, grabbing his sleeping bag that had been attached to the bottom of his backpack.

"Okay," He said taking charge. "Who's sleeping where?"

Emie hopped up from the floor with a large smile. Sissy watched Emie's chest bounce with an unsettling feeling.

"Emie is gonna sleep with Matt!" She said chipper. Her upper canine tooth stuck out with Rachel putting her hand on her head trying not to laugh.

"Please rephrase your words." she told her with a single laugh slipping out. "It sounds a little wrong when you say it like that."

Sissy stood up from the floor as well with a large and displeased frown, looking at Matt. Even though she wasn't going to openly admit that she wanted do sleep in his sleeping bag with him, she wasn't intending on letting Emie.

"I'm sorry," she told Matt, "but I'd rather not hear the sounds of you two going at it. I doubt any of us would sleep well with the two of you having...relations."

Emie was of course too dense to understand what she was talking about. All she had wanted to do was sleep beside Matt like she had done when they first met. Rachel and Matt however were a little stunned by her assumption. Shaking his head, Matt assured her that he had no intentions of that.

"We weren't going to be doing anything dirty." he told her a little red faced. "We would just be sharing the same sleeping bag like we had done before."

Sissy gave a disappointed sigh at Matt.

"I don't trust her." she told him as Emie scratched her head, still wondering what having relations meant. Sissy was caught blushing by Matt, looking over at a picture of a small plane mounted on the wall. "I say it would be wise if we slept in the same sleeping bag so she wouldn't be tempted with the thought. I'd hate it, mind you, but I guess I have no choice."

Matt smiled at her, being the only one realizing that she was lying about not wanting to sleep in the same sleeping bag with him. Rachel almost felt sorry for her having to commit to such a 'sacrifice' for the group.

"You could sleep in my bag with me if you want." Rachel offered. "Matt's not the greatest to share a sleeping bag with; he'd probably keep grabbing onto you like a leach."

Emie and Sissy stared at her, wondering how she would know something like that. Nonetheless, Sissy shook her head.

"No no," she told her, "it's alright. I'm not sure it would be wise for Matt to be tempted either by having big-boobs sleeping next to him. You know, he is a discussing pig after all."

She crossed her arms, acting as if she truly meant what she said. Matt knew better, not taking offense. Rachel laughed, shaking her head.

"Don't worry," Rachel laughed, "Matt's probably too tired to do anything like that. Then again, exhaustion's never stopped him before."

Matt rolled her eyes at her with an awkward sigh. Emie and Sissy once again stared at Rachel uncomfortably. Pushing the discomfort that she would know something like that aside, Emie began to get angry at Sissy, crossing her arms and slouching her back as she stood beside her.

"Emie wants to sleep with Matt!" she told her. Sissy stood her ground, narrowing her eyes at Emie.

"I don't feel like having to listen to the two of you going at it like rabbits while we sleep!" Sissy came back. Matt took a step back as the two of them went to war over who was going to be sleeping in the same sleeping bag as him. He probably would have found it flattering if the two of them didn't look like they were going to kill each other.

"Emie is sleeping with Matt!" Emie told her firmly. Sissy held the hand of her bokuto with her grip tightening.

"I said no!" Sissy told her with her voice raising. Matt finally had to intervene. He stepped between the to of them, making sure nothing would happen.

"I have a better idea." he told them. 

Emie and Sissy laid in the same sleeping bag on the living room floor with their backs facing each other. Neither of them were happy about the decision Matt had made. Emie yanked on the pillow of the sleeping bag with Sissy groaning with irritation. She pulled back on the pillow and plopped her head back down as Emie gave an angry growl, jerking her tail to the side.

"Quit bumping your tail against my leg." Sissy said darkly. Emie muttered something under her breath, adjusting in the sleeping bag.

"Emie doesn't like Sissy." she told her angrily. Sissy glanced at her bokuto that she had resting on her side of the sleeping bag. Rachel and Matt were outside so the two of them could talk about about their plan on getting to Bill's. Sissy felt Emie's tail hit against her leg again, feeling anger bubbling inside her.

"Stay the hell away from Matt..." Sissy said dead serious. Emie got quiet, turning around to face Sissy in the sleeping bag with Sissy doing the same. Both of them greeted each other with evil glares.

"Emie doesn't understand what Sissy means..." Emie told her with a squinted stare. Sissy looked Emie right in the eye, as if intimidating her.

"He's mine." Sissy told her. "Stay away from him or you're going to get hurt."

Emie blinked confused, staring into Sissy's eyes.

"Emie doesn't understand..." she said at a loss. "Sissy hates Matt..."

Sissy gave a smug smile with sadistic pleasure overtaking her common sense.

"Has Matt ever actually told you _why_ he's looking for Bill?" she asked her. Emie thought about it, slowly shaking her head side to side with the pillow still supporting her.

"N-no..." she said with innocence. Sissy's smile grew twice it's original size.

"He was going to leave you." she told her. "Matt isn't from here and he's looking for Matt to get him and Rachel home. Don't you ever wonder why Rachel magically appeared like she did?"

Emie was silent feeling unsure about everything.

"He was going to leave you, Emie." She told her. "He was going to go back to where he's from and just abandon you."

"W-what?..." Emie couldn't believe her. "Y-you're lying."

Sissy shook her head at her.

"Don't worry." she told her. "he's not going to leave. Because of me."

Sissy then began to explain what Matt had told her and that the two of them had had sex early that day. Emie listened to every painful detail, hearing how he had told Sissy that he loved her and she was his only reason for living. The more she spoke the more Emie started to shake. Tears started to run down her face as Sissy simply smiled back at her.

"Don't you get it?" Sissy told her. "Matt doesn't care about you. He cares about _me_. Stay the hell away from him or you'll be sorry."

Emie stared at her, seeing that she was telling the truth. Her heart had been broken into a thousand pieces, feeling a horrible pain in her chest. 

"I can't believe that crazy coot thought we were a couple." Rachel laughed. Matt chuckled as well, going through his back and taking things out. He was busily organizing what he had inside. The night air was slightly cool, but the wind had died down mostly.

"You sure are quick to forget." Matt joked. Rachel rolled her eyes at him.

"You know what I mean." she said with a smirk. "Those days are certainly long gone. I just think it's still funny hearing people call us that."

Matt smiled as the two of them sat on the edge of the porch with Matt toying with one of his empty Pokeballs. Rachel started laughing with Matt looking over to her with a raised brow. The sounds of crickets with the sound of her laughter brought back old memories.

"I remember how stupid you looked when admitted I liked you." Rachel laughed. Matt punched her in the shoulder softly.

"Don't forget that _you_ were the one on the verge of tears from embarrassment." Matt reminded her. He put his hands on the sides of his head and tried to imitate her voice. "'Please say you like me too, Matt!'"

He started laughing with Rachel punching him in the shoulder full force. It stung a little, but he was used to her hitting him by then.

"Shut up, you asshole!" she said with a laugh. "We were kids! At least _I_ wasn't the one who asked again when we were in high school."

Matt laughed once again.

"That sure didn't last long." he joked. Rachel sighed with a nod.

"I'm kinda glad too." she told him. "You sucked at kissing."

"Screw you." Matt joked. "You told me it felt like you were kissing your brother. How the hell was I supposed to kiss you after you said something like_ that_? Just be glad we stayed friends."

Rachel looked at him smugly.

"We had to, remember?" she told him. "You made me a promise that when we were kids that you'd always be my friend, no matter what. You've never been one to take your promises lightly."

Matt remembered. He also remembered what he had told Sissy when they laid in bed together and the promise he had made. He also thought about him and Emie. Matt sighed, looking off into the distance. Rachel could tell something was wrong. They silently sat there with the sound of hammering coming from the hanger.

"Is everything okay?" She asked her.

Everything was far from okay. He was leading on two people he cared about most in the world. Matt loved Sissy, but he also cared about Emie. Everything between those two had happened so fast that he hadn't thought about the repercussions. Once again, he had taken things faster than they should have gone.

"It's complicated." he told her. "I'd rather not talk about it right now."

Again, silence.

"Okay." she told him. "You don't have to tell me."

"I'm sorry," Matt apologized, "It's just I-"

The sound of the house door opening along with sniffling interrupted him. Matt turned his head, seeing that Emie was crying. He and Rachel stood up from the porch. She stood there before them, wiping her face. She sniffled once again, trying not to cry.

"Is everything okay?" Rachel asked her. She slowly shook her head, not once looking up.

"Emie needs to talk to Matt alone." she told her. Rachel looked at Matt, wondering if he would know what was wrong. By the confused look on his face she assumed that he was just as lost as she was. Respecting her wishes, Rachel headed inside with Emie and Matt standing on the porch together alone.

Matt approached her and put his hand on her shoulder only to have it smacked away. He saw her look up him with tears running down her face.

"Sissy told Emie everything..." she told him. Matt felt a knot in his stomach. "Matt was going to abandon Emie. Matt...doesn't really love Emie..."

"Emie," he told her, "I do love you, why would you think that I-"

"Because Matt loves Sissy!" she yelled with tears streaming down her face. "Matt said that Sissy was Matt's only reason for living! Does Emie mean nothing to Matt?!"

Matt didn't know what to say.

"Emie, I do care about you, I-"

"Then why didn't Matt tell Emie that Matt was going to leave her?!" She cried. "Why didn't Matt tell Emie that Matt loved Sissy more than Matt loved Emie?!..."

There was a cracking feeling in Matt's gut.

"Emie," he said almost feeling helpless. "I was going to tell you everything..."

Emie's eyes stared into his. He could see her pain. It was a pain worse than being stabbed and shot combined.

"Then why didn't Matt?" she asked him with tears in her eyes. Matt slowly motioned his head side to side with stabbing feeling in his heart.

"Emie, I'm sorry..." Matt told her..

A tear from Emie landed on the porch.

"Emie wants to go into Emie's ball." she told him sounding in pain. Matt's mouth opened but he couldn't say anything to her. Her crying grew with more tears landing on the porch. "Please put Emie in Emie's ball..." she told him.

Matt painfully grabbed for her Pokeball on his side, pulling it out from the belt. He moved it slowly forward, feeling like he couldn't do it. She had never wanted to be in her Pokeball before.

"Emie," he told her with his voice faltering. "I'm so sorry..."

He pressed the buttons on the sides of the ball with a red glow surrounding her. Before Matt's eyes she had was sucked into the ball. Matt felt his body start to shake. 

The door to Don's home opened with Matt slowly entering. He saw that Rachel was sleeping on the couch with Sissy laying in his sleeping bag. Her ears twitched, with her eyes opening. She saw Matt standing there. Sissy smiled at him, soon with her smile disappearing the longer he stared at her.

"I need to talk with you." he told her. 

Sissy and Matt stood out on the porch with Sissy looking around. She couldn't see where Emie had gone.

"She's in her ball." Matt told her sounding hurt. Sissy frowned, wondering what this was all about. "Why the hell did you tell her?"

Sissy shrugged as if she didn't care.

"I didn't realize I shouldn't have told her." she said to him. "It was bound to come out sooner or later."

Matt shook his head, feeling disgusted with her.

"I was going to explain everything to her when the time was right!" Matt said sounding like he was about to burst. "You intentionally told her everything to upset her, didn't you?"

Sissy grew angry at him, thrashing her arm to the side.

"So what if I did?!" she shouted. "She's been a thorn in my side ever since we met her! Everything would have been fine without her, but no, she _had_ to come with us."

Matt felt his hands turn into fists with himself looking down at the porch in pure anger.

"She's been nothing but compassionate towards you." he told her realistically. "She even helped me save your life when Gavin kidnapped you. Never had she insulted or offended you." Matt looked up at Sissy seeing that her ears were slightly lowered back. "I made a mistake."

Sissy's eyes started to water up in fear.

"W-what are you saying?" she asked him. Matt looked her right in the eye, unflinching and unmoved.

"I love you," he told her, "but I love Emie as well. It's not fair to either one of you. Neither one of you should have to be put through this. And for that reason, I can't be with either one of you."

Sissy's ears lowered all the way, not sure what he was getting at.

"I don't understand." Sissy said with a tear running down her face. "I thought you said you loved me. I thought you said that I was your reason for living."

Matt didn't respond with another tear running down her face.

"I thought I was your flame of life..." she told him. Matt looked up at her painfully.

"When this is all over I'll still be your friend." he told her. "I'm staying here with you like I promised. As your friend."

Sissy shook her head painfully.

"But I love you..." she told him. Matt felt about to rupture with emotions.

"I love you too..." he told her. "But it isn't fair to either one of you. I can only be your friend."

Sissy and Matt stood on the porch saying nothing for the longest of time. Finally, Sissy turned around and moved to the door at a snails pace. She put her hand on the doorknob and held it there with her head lowered.

"I loved you..." she told him still crying.

"Please forgive me..." Matt said feeling his knees shake. Sissy entered Don's house, leaving Matt standing on the porch alone.

Every fiber of his being ached in emotional pain. He had fallen in love with two women and had to pay the price for it. Neither one of them deserved the pain there were being put through. All the suffering was because of him. Matt went over to the railing of the porch and grabbed onto it, feeling his muscles trembling.

Another regret was added to his already long list.

Matt started to cry, gripping onto the wooden railing with the moon high shining down onto the plains.


	24. Chapter 24

_**Chapter 24**_

The night drug on with the only person able to really sleep being Rachel. Sissy had laid alone in Matt's sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling of Don's home. Hour after hour, she stayed awake, unable to sleep from the emotional pains. Why was this happening? The day Matt had told her he had loved her and had relations was the same day he told her he _couldn't_ love her. Did she deserve this for something she had done?

Matt was standing outside still, with his fingers wrapped around the railing. It was nearing twelve in the morning yet he didn't feel tired. Maybe it was because he had spent the past two days in a Daisy chamber and didn't need it. Maybe it was pain he felt in his heart keeping him awake. He didn't know how to describe it, but he could feel Sissy and Emie feeling an identical pain. Something Sissy had said a few days before reminded him.

_I felt that you were distraught..._

He had to distract his mind somehow. Matt couldn't stand facing the pain anymore. Glancing down at his open pack, he sat down on the porch and began to go through it again. He pulled out his spare Pokeballs, deciding to plan ahead. One by one he began to prick his fingers with the DNA registration on the back of the ball. The physical pain helped block out the emotional pain a little better. It probably wasn't the greatest way of coping, but it worked.

He placed the registered Pokeballs on his belt, having them all ready to go. Matt grabbed Emie and Sissy's Pokeballs, looking at them. It was odd: he could tell which was which just by feeling them. Each of them radiated an energy he could feel and had gotten used to over time. It was sorta like an aura of a person. Sissy was usually grumpy and upset while Emie felt bubbly and cheerful. However, right now they both felt miserable. Matt sighed, putting their Pokeballs back on his belt.

"This is all my fault." Matt said to himself. "If it wasn't for me none of this would be happening. I've gotta be the worst person in the world; a complete fuck up."

He sat there, lowering his head and feeling himself start to cry again.

"You can't blame yourself for everything." A voice said. Matt's head sprung up, darting in all directions. There was nobody there. At first he thought it was Don, but from the noises coming from the hanger he knew that it wasn't. It was a voice he'd never heard before.

"H-hello?" Matt said. From nowhere a Pidgey flew up to the porch, perching itself on the railing. Matt stumbled backwards. The bird looked cheery and didn't appear to be a threat of any kind. Matt sat there on the porch with his hands supporting him as he leaned back away from the Pidgey.

"Huh..." Matt said a little surprised as the Pidgey started cleaning it's wing with it's beak. "Where did you come from, little guy?"

The Pidgey visibly shrugged it's wings.

"I've been all around I guess." it said with perfect diction and pronunciation. Matt's arms gave way with his back landing on the porch. He didn't expect it to be talking nor did he anticipate on smashing the back of his head on the porch. "I take it you weren't expecting to meet a talking Pidgey?" the Pidgey joked. Matt examined him, seeing he didn't have anything on him that could possibly make him able to talk.

"No," Matt told him cautiously sitting back up and rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't...how are you-"

"Talking?" The Pidgey interrupted, cocking his head to the side. The side of his face slightly raised as if he were smirking, which was weird considering he had a beak. "Would you believe me if I told you I learned?"

Matt thought about it, not sure what was and what wasn't possible in this universe. He shrugged, unsure how to respond. The Pidgey chuckled, stretching his wings out.

"I get that response a lot." he told Matt. "I don't mean to pry, but you sound like you're in a rough spot. I sorta saw everything that happened with your Growlithe and your Meowth."

Matt frowned, half believing he was having a conversation with a random Pidgey.

"I would take me forever to explain the full story." Matt told him. The Pidgey fluttered down near Matt and stood near him.

"Eh," he said cocking his head to one side. "I've got time. Besides, I haven't heard a good story in a while."

Matt sighed, thus beginning to tell his tale. For some reason, he held nothing back. He talked about his home life, his childhood, how he came to the universe after a mistake he made, and all the details leading up to that point. He talked about every single thing that had happened- having sex with Emie and Sissy, fighting Jimmy, nearly dying from Gavin, and everything else. It took a sold four hours to explain everything. The entire time the Pidgey listened, getting more and more interested with Matt's sorry.

"And now, here I am." Matt said with another sigh, finishing his story. The Pidgey shook his head slowly at him as if he was in disbelief.

"I tell ya," the Pidgey told Matt, "I've heard some crazy stories, but _that_ has got to be the craziest I've ever heard. You certainly haven't had things easy, huh?"

Matt shook his head.

"You can say that again." Matt laughed. "And once again I've screwed up. The two people I care about are suffering because of me. To top it off my friend Rachel thinks I'm going back home with her and I don't know what to tell her when we find Bill, assuming we even find him or get that far. The way things have been going I don't know what to think. Never fail, the people I care about are suffering because of me."

The Pidgey slightly narrowed his eyes at Matt, shaking his head again.

"I think you're blaming yourself for things you don't have control over." he told him. "From what I've heard you care about both your Growlithe and your Meowth a lot. You just got caught up in your emotions."

"Yeah," Matt said pessimistically, "because I was too stupid to think about what I was doing."

"No," the Pidgey said disagreeing, "it's because you care about them so much. Sure, from what you've told me it sounds like things went a little too fast with both of them, but that's because you legitimately care about each of them."

Matt didn't know what to think. For god's sake, he was taking advice from a Pidgey for his problems. Was this some divine comedy he was forced to play in or was this a new low?

"I guess." Matt sighed. "But that doesn't change the fact that I completely broke their hearts."

"Just give it time." the Pidgey assured him. "Time heals all wounds. Just show them that even if you are just friends right now that doesn't mean the future won't hold something more special."

Matt gave a curious look at the bird.

"You certainly have a lot of good advice considering you're a Pidgey." Matt told him. "No offense or anything."

"None taken." the Pidgey said with a laugh. "The name's Bomber. I grew up around that kind of advice. My previous owner was a psychiatrist."

Matt blinked, staring at the Pidgey interested.

"I bet you've got an interesting story behind your life with a name like Bomber." Matt said a little jokingly. Bomber shook his head side to side with a sigh. Never had Matt thought he'd hear a bird sigh. Ever.

"Not really." he explained. "That's sorta why I left my home. You see, my previous owner hatched me in an incubator and I had lived with him as a house pet. He never used a Pokeball on me, saying it would be wrong of him to 'shackle me to such a barbaric concept.'

When I was still young and wasn't the brightest, I tended to have...accidents, going to the bathroom where I wasn't supposed to. My owner jokingly dubbed me Bomber, saying I'd bomb his office with bird shit. The name sorta stuck after a while.

"My entire life has circled around being stuck in an office listening to people's problems and listening to my owner help them solve their issues. Over time, I started learning how to speak, sorta like a mocking bird. At first I could only really repeat stuff, soon realizing that I could make my _own_ sentences. At the time it was the most innovative thing I'd discovered since sliced bread."

The Pidgey started chuckling at his past.

"I finally got to the point of having conversations with my owner, talking about high-brow topics like psychoanalysis and sociological discoveries that had been circulating throughout the community of shrinks and professors.

"But I felt like my life was lacking something; everything was so bland. I would hear the same problems over and over again, wondering what it would be like to do something different with my life. I wanted to do things, not just talk about doing them, you know? Finally one day I was fed up with being stuck in an office and told my owner I wanted to experience the life of a real Pokemon, not some house pet.

"My owner said I was being ridiculous. He told me that the world was full of danger and things I wouldn't be able to handle. It actually got me really mad. He doubted my ability to handle myself, but I suppose he was right. But I ignored him and came to live in the plains here. I heard about other Pidgeys living here, but of course, none of them want anything to do with me. I can talk like a human therefor they hate me. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but us Pidgeys and our evolved forms don't like humans very much."

Matt nodded, remembering what had happened when they arrived at Don's.

"I gathered that much." Matt told him.

The Pidgey stretched out his wings and looked down at his chest.

"I'm a small bird In a big world." he told Matt. "I dunno, I guess I just wanted to find adventure. I wanted to be more than just some stupid house pet." The Pidgey lowered his head even more with his wings limply hanging down by his sides.

"Sometimes I wish I was more than _just_ a stupid Pidgey." he told Matt. "I'm sorta pathetic, I know. I probably couldn't even take on a Caterpie."

"I don't think you're pathetic." Matt told him. "I'm sure if you had a trainer and got some experience you could be the toughest damn Pidgey around."

The Pidgey looked at Matt doubtfully.

"And who on earth is going to train _me_?" the Pidgey asked him. Matt stared at him as if he should already know the answer. Finally getting the hint, the Pigey's eyes grew.

"W-wait...you'd really saying you'd take me under you wing?" The Pidgey asked Matt. Laughing at the irony of taking a Pidgey under his 'wing,' Matt nodded.

"And why not?" Matt asked. "You bothered to listen to me rant about my problems and gave me some solid advice. It's the least I could do."

The Pidgey felt touched by his offer, but was unsure.

"I don't know," he told Matt unsure. "I'd probably just get in the way."

Matt shook his head, taking out a Pokeball from his side.

"You wouldn't be getting in the way." Matt assured him. "I won't take no for an answer.

Matt gave him a confident wink, feeling a little better after the nights events. The Pidgey looked happy, puffing up with excitement.

"Alright," he told him, looking at the Pokeball. "I'll trust your judgment."

Matt tossed the Pokeball down beside the Pidgey with it popping open and the Pidgey being sucked inside. And just like that, Matt had a new companion with him.

He released Bomber, setting his free will on green.

"I hope you don't mind if I have you on green." Matt told him. "It's probably for the best that I have some control."

Bomber shook his head, seemingly excited.

"I don't mind at all!" he told him. "I'm just glad I found a trainer will to accept me! I just hope I'm not more trouble than I'm worth."

"I'm positive that you'll be a great addition to the team." Matt told him.

The sound of metal being torn into made the two of them jump.

"Son of a bitch!" they heard Don yell, followed by blast of his shotgun. Matt jumped up from the porch, looking down at Bomber.

"Sounds like trouble." Matt told him. "You ready for some training?"

Bomber flapped his wings, perching onto the railing closest to him.

"I think so." he told him trying to be confident. Matt jumped off the porch and ran towards the hanger with Bomber flying beside him. 

Don was backed into the corner of the hanger with his shotgun raised. Ever since he'd built his home and hanger in the plains he'd been told it was a bad idea. Friends told him that it was dangerous. Don had flown in war zones all his life and was no stranger to danger. Being face to face with a 15 foot bird was another story.

Being a the third evolution of a Pidgey, the Pidgeot was taller than the plane he'd built that was resting in the corner of the hanger. It had torn its way through the roof of the hanger and caught Don by surprise. Luckily, Don was always prepared for these kinds of situations Well, most of the time anyway. He never anticipated on fending off a Pidgeot.

The Pidgeot spread it's wings out and shook them with it's dark eyes glaring at Don. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he held his shotgun high, aiming at it's chest. It let out a loud screech with Don baring his teeth.

"Bring on, you feathered bastard..." Don growled.

He fired at the large bird Pokemon with the buckshot of his gun hitting into it. The buckshot of the shotgun blast didn't even faze it. Don swore with the Pidgeot letting out another loud screech.

At that moment, Matt and Bomber had entered the hanger through the side door. It was large with a few lights hanging from the high ceiling along with part of the roof now missing. There was a plane in the corner of the hanger along with some boxes and a workbench. Bomber was intimidated by the size of the Pidgeot, but stayed calm somehow. It was a weird feeling he was experiencing. It was like Matt's bravery was shared over to him.

It was about the same size as the Charizard that Sissy had faced. He knew due to Bombers size that they were either going to need more help or have one hell of a plan. He'd have to improvise, knowing that if he didn't intervene soon that Don was going to be bird food. He let out a loud whistle. The Pigeot turned it's neck in the direction of Matt.

"Ain't it a little too early to be starting this kinda crap?" Matt asked it cockily. While it was distracted with Matt, Don ran towards the boxes near the plane, leaping over them. The Pigeot didn't even notice, slowly turning it's massive body towards Matt who stood his ground with Bomber doing the same. He even puffed out his chest, trying to intimate the large Pigeot.

His attempt failed miserably, but it was worth a shot.

"Don't be afraid of it." Matt told Bomber. "Just because it's bigger than you doesn't mean it's better than you. I'm gonna help you use your size as an advantage."

"O-okay!" Bomber told him nervously. "Let's do this..."

"Go for it!" Matt told him.

Not even thinking about the fear he was feeling, Bomber flew straight towards the Pidgeot, bashing right into it's chest. With an 'oomph,' Bomber bounced off of it's chest, landing right on the floor of the hanger. The Pidgeot thought it was the funniest thing it had ever say, letting out a strange noise that slightly sounded similar to a laugh.

"Get up!" Matt told Bomber, who got up off the floor of the hanger. The Pidgeot started to flap it's wings, creating a mysterious wind from nowhere. With it thrusting both of it's huge wings in the direction of Bomber, he was hit by the gust of wind, flying backwards and skipping like a stone on the hanger floor.

Matt ran over to Bomber who laid on the floor limp with the Pigeot letting out it's 'laugh' again. He picked him up with Bomber opening only one of his eyes. Bomber looked a little banged up, but for the most part seemed alright. He let out a painful laugh to let Matt know he was okay.

"Damn that hurt." he told him. Matt smiled, setting Bomber back down on the ground. The Pidgeot started flapping it's wings again in the direction of Matt and Bomber, giving Matt little time to think.

A black and red blur dashed past Matt and charged at the Pidgeot.

It was Sissy.

With a leap, she swung her bokuto across into it's right wing, making it bleed. The Pidgeot let out a screech of pain, trying to hit her with the wing she had cut. Unable to land a hit on her, it missed with Sissy sprinting over to towards Matt with her sword held low. She stopped suddenly, skidding on her feet and turning. She was now standing in front of Matt and Bomber with her bokuto held in a defensive position.

"You will not harm my master!" she declared. Matt didn't know what to say. She was still going to defend him after everything that had happened? Matt felt Emie's Pokeball wiggling, soon vibrating. With a jump, it bounced out of the belt and landed on the floor, breaking open. Emie appeared in a fighting stance beside Sissy with her hands up.

"Leave Matt alone you st_ooo_pid birdy!" She said. Matt was now flabbergasted. Not only was Sissy going to help fight, but so was Emie?" Matt felt a slight headache, realizing that his Point Count was currently totaling at 1.5. Nevertheless, he ignored the headache, preparing to battle against the Pidgeot.

"Hey!" Don yelled towards the Pidgeot from behind the crate. He had something round in his hand. "Eat this!"

He pulled the pin of whatever it was he was holding, lobbing it at the 15 foot bird. Everyone covered their face as it exploded, dazing the giant bird. Matt took advantage of the situation, pointing at it with his Pokemon ready for battle. A strategy was developing in his head.

"Sissy," Matt ordered. "charge at it from the front!"

"Got it." she told him, rushing towards the still dazed Pidgeot. Matt looked at Emie.

"I need you to change into you beast form." he told her. She nodded her head, quickly starting to undress. She tossed her clothes down onto the floor as she got naked, only leaving her collar. It wasn't anything new to Matt, but was certainly new to Bomber. He awkwardly started up at her bare ass before she transformed into her beast form.

Sissy slashed into the Pidgeot's white underbelly, sending feathers flying everywhere. The Pidgeot let out another noise of pain as she relentlessly cut into it, getting blood all over it's white feathers.

Now in beast form, Emie dashed towards the Pidgeot with the bell of her collar jingling as she ran.

"Attack it from behind!" Matt ordered, watching Emie dart past Sissy and through the Pigeot's legs. "Jump on it's back!" Matt ordered, watching as Sissy still hacking away at the Pigeot.

It finally regain composure, bashing into Sissy with it's wing, sending her back a little. She managed to stay on her feet, but was in a little bit of pain. Being in pain had never stopped her before and she certainly wasn't going to let it now. She charged at the Pidgeot once again with it starting to flap it's wings. It stopped however when it felt Emie biting into the back of it's neck.

Matt looked at Bomber as Sissy and Emie were busy fighting the Pidgeot.

"I need you to fly in it's face." he told Bomber. "Are you up to it?"

Bomber nodded with a 'humph'

"You got it boss!" he told him cocksure. With a flap of his wings, Bomber flew towards the Pidgot's face, flapping near it's eyes. The Pidgeot shook it's head from the fluttering in it's face, trying to bat Bomber away, but couldn't hit him as he kept dodging. The pain of being attacked from the front and from behind and behind was so painful, but it couldn't do anything with a Pidgey flying in it's face.

Matt knew what needed to be done, throwing his arm to the side as he directed them all what to do.

"Finish it off!" Matt yelled. "Give it everything you got!"

A surge of power overcame all three of them.

Sissy pulled back her arms and raised her bokuto, raising it high in the air. She let out a scream of vengeance as she sliced into the Pidgeot.

Emie let out a loud growl, clawing rapidly at the back of it's neck with her teeth sinking in so deep that she tasted blood.

Bomber flew backwards, then nosedived into the Pidgeot's head, hitting it as hard as he could. It's head thrashed backwards from the impact, unable to stand with all of the pain it was put under from all three of them.

Matt reached for his side, grabbing an empty Pokeball. He pulled his arm back, throwing it at the Pidgeot.

"You're mine!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The ball flew through the air, hitting into the Pidgeot. A red glow overcame it, with the Pidgeot being sucked into the ball. Emie fell when the large bird vanished, luckily landing on her feet unharmed. Don peaked up over the boxes he was behind, watching the Pokeball begin to wiggle.

Matt focused as hard as he could, staring at the wiggling Pokeball. Emie, Sissy, Bomber, and Don watched it move around. At first it was quick jerks side to side, but slowed down after the first minute. Finally, the Pokeball stopped moving. Everyone looked at Matt, finding him jumping in the air with a shout of joy from his major success. He had done the improbable, catching a Pidgeot with a single Pokeball.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Rachel asked, walking into the hanger with her hair in a mess. She rubbed her eyes as she drug her feet across the hanger floor. She blinked groggily, seeing everyone, including a Pidgey, looking at her. She blinked with the crust of sleep still in her eyes.

"Did I miss something?" she asked obliviously. 

The sun finally came up as everyone was still in the vicinity of the hanger, now with the main door of it wide open, letting in the sunlight and fresh air. Sissy and Emie (who was back in her human form and fully clothed) were outside talking to one another, occasionally glancing at Matt who was busy talking with Don. Matt held the Pidgeot's Pokeball in his hand, feeling like he were holding a ball of gold. Bomber and Rachel were talking with one another, with Rachel confused as to how the hell he was able to speak and where he had even come from. He spoke so well that it was hard for her to believe it was all him. She began to wonder if he had possible swallowed a talker collar somehow.

"In all my years," Don told Matt, "I have never, and I mean _never,_ seen anything that impressive in my life. I've been in dozens of aerial combat situations and none of them have even come close to how intense this was."

Matt smiled, accepting Don's compliment gladly.

"I just hope it's okay." Matt said. He knew that he had to heal it, but was afraid it would go berserk. At least with the Raticate he could have stood a chance, but not with a beast like this. It could probably swallow him whole if it wanted to. He switched Sissy and Emie's Pokeballs to blue, then proceeded to switch the Pidgeot's Pokeball to red, balancing the Point Counter back to 1.5.

"You might wanna stand back just in case." He told Don, who complied in a heartbeat. He backed up with Matt sending out the Pidgeot. The red silhouette turned into the large bird, who was laying on it's stomach with it's head turned towards Matt. It was in serious pain. It gave him a dirty look, as if trying to muster up whatever energy it had left to destroy him. Matt shook his head.

"No." he told it. His will was superior with the Pidgeot resting it's head down once again. It was covered in blood and cuts. There was so much damage done Matt didn't even know where he would have to begin or even if his four health potions would even suffice. He adjusted his hat, thinking to himself, then snapping his fingers as if he knew a solution. He turned his head towards Bomber. Matt saw that Rachel was in a panicked shock to see the huge bird Pokemon.

"Hey Bomber," Matt said to him, "could you get a health potion out of my bag. I'm only going to need one."

"You got it boss!" Bomber told him, flying like a dart outside of the hanger. Matt caught a glance of Sissy and Emie talking in whispers to one another. Sissy folded her arms together, nodding her head with her eyes closed. Whatever they were talking about must have been serious.

"How are you going to heal that thing with only one potion?" Don asked him. Matt gave him a large grin.

"Simple," Matt told him. "I'll have it turn into it's anrtho form. That way there will be less mass to cover, or at least in theory."

"That's not a bad idea." Don told Matt, still with Rachel freaking out on the other side of the hanger.

"W-w-wuh-what is that t-thing!?" she panicked. Matt ignored her with Bomber flying back to him with a potion clamped between his beak. He dropped the spray bottle-like potion in his hand, fluttering back to Rachel as if to continue there conversation. Bomber had proved to be very social even in the short amount of time Matt had gotten to know him.

Matt approached the Pidgeot, kneeling down next to it.

"I'm going to need you to turn into you anthro form." Matt told it.

The Pidgeot gave him an even more hateful look than before. Matt frowned.

"Please," he said to it. "I'm only trying to help you."

The large Pidgeot looked at him with sad eyes. It had no choice. With a white light consuming it's body, the white light morphed into a smaller, six foot tall human shaped form. Matt's mouth hung open, seeing the anrtho form of the Pidgeot. So did everyone else. It painfully stood up from the ground. To be more specific, _she_ stood up from the ground painfully.

Standing before Matt was a woman with more curves than a race track. With enormous E-cup breasts, a thin waist, and wide hips, she was truly beautiful. She had attractive brown eyes and a bird's beak where lips would have been. There were extra feathers on her arms sticking out to the side and had tail feathers that stuck out slightly above her backside. Her entire body and face was covered in a sleek and appealing plumage. Even her human-like hands and feet had feathers on them, looking like her 'skin' was a light brown with her underbelly being a soft white.

Emie and Sissy were staring in disbelief at the Pidgeot. Emie was actually blushing and slightly drooling a little from how incredibly sexy the Pidgeot was. Sissy on the other hand was jealous of her bust size. She'd kill to have boobs like those. Don and Bomber politely turned their heads, feeling a little awkward with Rachel even more surprised than before. Her boobs here freaking _huge_!

Matt examined her body for cuts and marks, holding the potion in his hand. The Pidgeot was embarrassed, looking down at the ground. Taking a deep breath, Matt moved closer to her, knowing that this was going to be a little awkward for both of them.

"I'm sorry I've gotta do this," he told her, "but I don't intend on having you be in all this pain."

She looked at him a little surprised. What did he care if she was in pain? He looked around her body, seeing what needed to be taking care of first. There was a large mark on her forehead from where Bomber had bashed into her. He slowly moved he potion up to her face.

"I'm gonna need you to close your eyes for a second, okay?"

Reluctant at first, the Pidgeot finally nodded her head, closing her eyes. Matt sprayed some of the potion on her face with the wound healing itself. She opened her eyes again, blinking a little to see Matt smiling at her.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Matt asked her. Her eyes lightened up, as if smiling at him in her own way, slowly shaking her head. Matt started working on healing the rest of her body while Don refrained from looking at her naked.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to pack my things up and go." Don said with a sigh. "I can't keep taking attacks like this, especially like _this_ one."

"I realize that." Matt told him, spraying down the Pidgeot's arm. "That's why I'm giving her to you for protection."

Literally everyone looked at Matt all at once in shock.

"Wait," Don said as if he misheard him, "you're giving _her_ to _me_?"

Matt nodded with the Pidgeot not liking hearing that. She would never help someone who was trespassing on her land! She gave Don a dirty look with him taking a step back.

"I can't." he told him. "There's no way I could control her."

Matt looked at the Pidgeot with sad eyes, knowing he was going to have to win her over if she was ever going to cooperate with Don. Using his ability to swoon, he placed his hand on the side of her face. She looked back at him, with a fate red glow appearing on the base of her beak.

"I don't think you like the sound of that, do you?" he told her. She shook her head at him, still blushing. Rachel put her hand on her head, not believing what she was witnessing.

"God," she muttered to herself. "of course she'd fall for him. Every damn woman in the world seems to fall for Matt and his stupid charms."

Bomber had heard her and was impressed by how gentle and soothing Matt was being towards the Pidgeot.

"I should take lessons from this guy." Bomber chuckled..

Matt looked into the Pidgeot's eyes, not once removing eye contact.

"How about this," he told her, "I'll _lend_ you to him for the time being. Does that sound fair?"

It was certainly better, now falling victim to Matt's looks and charm, but still wasn't completely sold on the idea. She lowered her head, shaking it slowly. Matt thought about it, leaning closer to the side of her head so she could hear him whisper.

"When I see you again I'll make it worth your while." he told her. The Pidgeot blushed immensely, looking up at Matt with the sides of her beak looking like they had slightly raised. It sorta looked like she was smiling. She nodded her head looking a little excited with Matt smiling back at her. He continued spraying her body areas that were injured. Little did he know Emie and Sissy had heard every word he had said to her with their eyes glaring at him.

Emie's fur stood on end with Sissy's doing the same as they watched Matt put his hands all over the Pidgeot's body as he heal her. There was a spot that was under her breast that he needed to spray, with Matt looking at the Pidgeot unsure.

"I kinda need to move your...breast." he told her shyly. She nodded at him with happy and bliss-filled eyes. With a smile of his own, Matt grabbed her large breast and lifted upwards. Emie and Sissy's fur stood up even more on end as he sprayed. Both of them bared their teeth, subtly making growl like noises.

After using the entire potion on the rest of her body, she was completely healed. Matt smiled at her, seeing her look even happier.

"Feel better?" he asked her. Out of nowhere she embraced him, letting out a cooing noise with her soft plumage rubbed up against his body. He hugged her back as she rubbed the side of his face with her own. He laughed, glad to see she was okay. "Someone certainly is affectionate."

She squeezed against him with a feeling of euphoria overcoming him.

"Can I be honest?" he told her. She moved her head back, still with her chest pressed against his. Everyone was staring at this them, with Emie and Sissy visibly shaking in rage at this point. "Your boobs feel amazing." He lowered his hand down, giving her a friendly swat on the butt with her giggling. "You've got a nice ass on you too."

That had done it.

Within a seconds he felt Emie and Sissy pull him off of her with Sissy twisting his arms behind his back. Matt swore in pain. He was going to tell them to stop, but forgot that they were both on blue. Emie stepped in front of Matt with her eyes ablaze.

"Emie doesn't think Matt should have done that." Emie told him a little more serious than her usual self, moving closer with her claws extending.

"W-what are you two doing?!" Matt panicked.

"Justice, Matt." Sissy told him darkly. "We're getting justice."

Emie put her hands up Matt's shirt and began to tickle him. With her claws. Matt wasn't sure if he should be screaming in pain or laughing his ass off. It hurt, yet tickled so much that he started tearing up, letting out laughs with gasps of pain. Sissy tightened her twist on both of his arms with a cracking noise being heard.

"GAHA_UUH_AHH!" Matt hollered as Emie claw-tickled away at his sides, drawing a little blood in the process.

Rachel and Bomber just watched with Don and the Pidgeot doing the same. They blankly stared at Matt was being tickled to death. Quite possibly in a literal sense. 

An hour passed with everyone getting having their things gathered, standing outside the hanger with Don and the Pidgeot that Matt was lending to him. Sissy was standing beside Matt, who was in pain, but pretended like he wasn't. Emie went into the field to do something and Bomber was still looking around the hanger. Rachel was also beside Matt, thinking he was the biggest idiot in the world for giving up such a powerful Pokemon.

"Remember," Matt told Don, "I'm just lending her to you."

Matt looked at the Pidgeot, giving her a wink. Still in her anrtho form, she was wearing some old pilot suit Don had stored in his hanger. The strange thing was it was actually already meant for a woman for with her incredible figure. Either Don had high hopes on finding a sexy lady friend or he saved some really weird crap.

Sissy jammed her elbow into Matt's ribcage, making him bite his lip in pain.

"Keep flirting with her and I'll chop your balls off." she mumbled to him. Matt swallowed, getting the hint that she wasn't to be tested at the moment. Don smiled at Matt, not sure what to say.

"I can't thank you enough." he told him. "With her with me there's nothing that can catch me off guard."

"Just take good care of her." Matt told him. Don nodded, but looked at the Pidgeot with a frown.

"She really should have a name." he told him. Don looked at Matt as if expecting him to come up with one. "Well, you _are_ just lending her to me, so you really should be the one to name her."

Matt thought about it with Bomber flying back over to everyone. He had something on his head. It was a sea blue aviator cap that looked like it would fit a normal toddler. Considering his head was already that small, it fit him perfectly. It even had a some goggles resting on the forehead of it.

"Lookie what I found!" Bomber said. "Is this thing cool or what?"

Don smiled at Bomber, nodding in approval.

"That was mine was I was a little tyke." Don told him. "If you like it so much you should keep it. It ain't like I'll be needing it anymore."

Bomber looked at Don with excitement as Matt still racked his brain for a name for the Pidgeot.

"How about Luna?" Matt said. "Since I caught her during the night, and it's a cute-"

He looked at Sissy, seeing her glaring at him.

"Er, I mean, a fitting name for her." Matt finished nervously. The Pidgeot nodded her head in approval with Matt smirking. "Luna it is, then."

Emie rushed back to everyone with something in her hand. It was a dandelion. She went up to Luna with her face turning slightly red, looking at the dirt runway they were all standing on.

"Um, Emie just wanted to say she was sorry that we didn't get along before." she told Luna. With her face turning even redder, she jerked her arm out towards Luna, offering her the dandelion. "E-emie wants Birdie to have this..."

Luna took it a little confused, but flattered nonetheless. Emie held her hands to her sides as if they were made of stone, still with her head looking down at the runway.

"E-emie thinks that Birdie is...very pretty."

Everyone watched this adorable display of affection with Rachel giving Emie a smug look.

"I wasn't aware you played for both teams." Rachel said with a giggle. Emie blushed even more, hiding her face from everybody. 

Matt and the crew waved goodbye as they headed off once more, going back in the direction of the Viridian forest. Bomber was enjoying his new aviator hat, perched on Rachel's shoulder. The two of them talked, getting to know each other better with Rachel taking a liking to him. He was actually really interesting to converse with.

The two of them led the group with Emie and Sissy walking on each side of Matt. Both of them would ever now and then look at each other, as if waiting for the right moment. Deciding now was the best time to bring the subject up, both of them put of their arms, stopping Matt from walking forward.

Rachel stopped and turned to see what was going on. Sissy gave her a friendly smile.

"Emie and I need to speak with Matt privately." she told her. "We'll catch up with you two in a bit."

Rachel looked at Bomber who was still perched on her shoulder with a shrug, then continued onward.

They continued to walk down the road with Matt wishing he could go with them as Emie and Sissy stood in front of him. Both of them crossed their arms and looked him in the eye.

"Here's the deal," Sissy told him, "Emie and I talked it over and we agree to forgive you."

Emie nodded.

"Her and I might not see eye and eye," Sissy went on to say. "but, since we're all in this together, we'll work together and make sure we keep you safe. However..." Sissy paused, looking at Emie with her doing the same. Both of them returned their focus on Matt. "Neither of us think that it's fair that we have to be just friends. So, right here and now, you tell us who you care about more. The person you don't pick will can be your friend while the other gets to have a relationship with you. So who do you love more, Matt? Emie or Myself? I suggest you pick wisely..."

Matt looked at them both, unable to answer such a question. Emie and Sissy still had their arms crossed, waiting for him to say something. One way or another, there was no winning. He could feel the tension building the longer the two of them stared at him. Matt put his hand on his chin, slowly smiling for some reason. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

Emie and Sissy watched as he opened it up and started messing with the options. He pressed a button with one of the ringer samples playing at full blast, being a high pitch squeal. With their acute sense of hearing, both Emie and Sissy were forced to cover their ears in pain. Doing so, Matt spoke, but his voice went unheard. He closed his phone and slid it in his pocket.

"There." he told them with a conceded smile. "I gave you my answer."

Emie and Sissy opened their mouths to protest, but had Matt walk past them.

"You girls really need to work on your listening skills." he told them with a forced sigh. "I guess now you'll never know what I said."

He turned his head with a grin, soon losing it when he saw them both glaring at him.

Seconds later Matt was running for his life with Emie and Sissy running after him, darting past Rachel and Bomber up ahead of the road. They watched as Sissy and Emie chased after Matt, who ran for his dear life as the two of them were out for blood. Rachel sighed, shaking her head with Bomber still on her shoulder.

"Matt is such an idiot." she sighed. Bomber cocked his head, feeling a little excited about being a new member of the group.

"I have a feeling this is gonna be more fun than sitting in an office building." he told her cheerfully.


	25. Chapter 25

_**Chapter 25**_

After countless hours of research and data, Otto was still working on his computer. He'd been so busy that he had to call off a few meetings and cancel some future conventions he was going to be hosting. All of his time had been completely devoted on finding out information for Matt and it was starting to take it's toll. He hadn't left the house for so long he had almost forgotten what the sun was like. He also swore that he was a few shades paler.

The information that he had gathered was a pain in the ass to get. The satellite that he had hacked onto, being a private military company (also known as a PMC), had a difficult firewall to surpass, being possibly one of the greatest he'd ever hacked through. Even the CIA's firewall couldn't compare to this one. Even so, Otto had gotten a much clearer picture of the universe Matt was in.

The region Matt and Rachel were in was refused to as Kento, just as it had been in the first Pokemon game. Kento's economic situation was going fairly well, but was having issues with a group known as Team Rocket, which was once again, a group from the first game. However, the group's record was anything but than childish. The information Otto had downloaded about Team Rocket was brutal. According to the source on the PMC satellite, there was three sects to the group: the "hands," the "shadows," and the "kings."

The "Hands" were the grunts of the group, mostly just following orders whether it be to steal something of value or to carry out a mission needing various members. They would do almost anything- stealing Pokemon, kidnapping, vandalism- you name it. They were sorta like the blue collar workers of the group. Their work was to do anything to support the organization. Sometimes they needed to bust a few heads while other times they might just need to get their hands on something.

The "Shadows" were much more valuable, and frankly, some of the scariest damn people you'd meet. They were assassins and skilled killers that were in charge of caring out jobs that required skill. Otto read about one report of a Shadow member taking out a chief of police and his wife with the same bullet after lining a shot up perfectly. There was another story about a Shadow member killing an entire family, children and all, then nailing their corpses outside of their home after they had publicly spoken out against Team Rocket.

The "Kings" were the leaders of the group and were the most unknown. They kept their identities hidden with hardly any history of their work showing. Out of all of the Kings, there was, as it was jokingly put, the "King of Kings." There was literally no information them. All Otto could find was that they controlled both the "Hands" and the "Shadows" to do their bidding.

With Kento having such a problem with Team Rocket, they had hired mercenary companies to help fight them off seeing as Kento doesn't actually have their own military. All they have are civil servants. It's clear that Police officers alone were no match for Team Rocket. Sadly, all of the PMC's were either wiped out or scared off by Team Rocket. All except for one. The very same one that Otto was using their satellite to do his research with.

They called themselves "Gail Company" and had turned up the heat on Team Rocket. The two groups constantly fought with each other, with the Gail Company winning 90% of the time. Team Rocket learned to back off, doing most of their business in secret, yet were still at large.

Otto leaned back in his office chair, staring at his computer monitor with bloodshot eyes. As useful as this information was, it wasn't going to help Matt or Rachel get back. Rachel's hurtful words stung at him, remembering how she had told him he was useless sitting at a keyboard. He shook his head, standing up from his computer.

"Maybe I am useless here." Otto said out loud. He glanced over at the Dimensional Transferring Device. "I think it's time I got some fresh air..." 

"You used potatoes?" Rachel asked Bomber, who was still perched on her shoulder as she 'lead' the group in the direction of the Viridian forest. Bomber shrugged his wings, acting very coy.

"I had to get creative." Bomber said, with Matt not understand what the two of them had been conversing about. Sissy and Emie walked by his sides, finally calmed down after Matt's stunt with his phone ringer. Emie made herself busy by batting at her bell with Sissy every now and then looking at Matt. Every time he'd look at her to see what she was staring at she'd look away as if something else had caught her eye.

"You're a pretty crafty bird." Rachel told Bomber. Once again, he shrugged his wings.

"It wasn't that big of a deal." he told her modestly. Again, Matt hadn't the slightest clue as to what they were talking about. Although, the subject of potatoes was making him feel a little hungry. The crew had been walking most of that morning, with the forest in the distance looking like a small dot. The sound of someone's stomach roaring interrupted Rachel and Bomber's conversation.

Everyone stopped walking, looking at each other as if to wonder who's stomach growled. The sound of hunger once again emerged, coming from Sissy, who looked flustered with everyone staring at her. She looked away and folded her arms together.

"So what?" she said to everyone as if insulted. "Don't act like you've never been hungry before."

Matt laughed, playfully tugging on her ear.

"Then why didn't you say anything." he asked her. She looked at him embarrassed. Sissy found that whenever she felt his touch she'd get shy. His touch for some reason made her feel special. Regardless, she pulled her head away from him, making Matt let go of her ear.

"If you had any brains at all you would have known none of us have eaten today!" she told him. "Think for once in your life!"

Matt didn't take it personally, coming to expect Sissy to sound cruel.

"Forgive me for not being able to read your mind." Matt joked, taking off his backpack. "How about we all take a break and have something to eat."

Emie got excited from the promise of food, beginning to jump up and down. Her bust did the same, catching Bombers eye a little.

"Emie gets to eat food!" she said almost cheering. 

Everyone sat down on the road in a circle formation, making themselves as comfortable as possible. Sissy and Emie sat beside Matt with Rachel and Bomber sitting beside each other. After pulling out some food for his Pokemon, Matt set down a bag of chips, some wrapped up sandwiches, a couple of beef sticks, and a bag of assorted fruits that consisted of grapes, apple slices, and diced pears that he had soaked in lemon juice to help preserve.

Sissy and Emie went to town without complaints, with Rachel pulling out some food of her own. Bomber flew over towards one of the beef sticks and fluttered back over to Rachel's side. It took him a while to tear into, but finally managed to get open it with his beak. They all ate contently.

Goofing around, Matt grabbed a few grapes, tossing one into the air and catching it with his mouth. Emie watched him amazed by such a trick. She watched him do it several times, not once missing. Matt did it once more, tossing a grape into the air. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

Nothing happened.

He opened his eyes once more, looking down on the road wondering if he had someone missed his mark somehow. Seeing that there was no grape to be found, he looked at Emie. She was crewing, which wasn't out of the ordinary considering everyone was eating, but in doing so she had a smirk. Matt looked at her curiously, tossing another grape in the air with his eyes focused on her.

A blur passed his face with the grape disappearing again. Matt saw it vanish, blinking dumbfounded. Emie was chewing with her upper canine tooth sticking out as she grinned. Nobody else had saw what had happened. Everyone was more focused on what they were eating than to notice disappearing grapes. Wanting to test something, Matt took another grape and tossed it in the direction of Rachel.

Emie moved so fast that Matt didn't see her move at all. Instead of being next to him, she was now hunched over behind Rachel, chewing with a giggle. Rachel naturally freaked out, turning around to see Emie hanging on her shoulders.

"Gah!" she panicked "Where the hell did you come from?!"

Emie giggled, disappearing once again. Matt turned his head, seeing that she was sitting beside him again. His mouth hung opened with confusion. Everyone's eyes were on Emie as she innocently sat beside Matt. Bomber and Sissy were the only two who acted like it wasn't anything spectacular.

"I didn't know she knew how to use magic." Bomber said without any hint of surprise in his voice. Matt looked at him as if he'd have an explanation.

"How the hell did she do that?" Rachel asked, actually frightened by Emie's display of incomprehensibly fast movement. Sissy frowned, feeling as if Emie was showing off.

"So what?" Sissy said sounding jealous. "The idiot knows how to use quickness. It isn't that huge of a deal."

"Quickness?" Matt said dimly. Sissy sighed, knowing that she once again had to enlighten Matt who knew hardly anything about the Pokemon universe..

"It's a UMP, or "magic", skill." she explained. "She's a Meowth so it's not that odd for her to pick up on how to do it. It's about the only thing they're good at..."

Matt was staring at Emie as if she were a completely different person.

"I didn't know you knew how to do that..." Matt told Emie. She looked at him with an even bigger smile.

"Emie learned how to this morning." she told him chipper as usual. "Emie was picking a pretty flower for Luna and a st_ooo_pid bug kept flying in Emie's face. So, Emie decided to wave her hand _really_ fast to get the dumb bug."

Sissy rolled her eyes at her.

"Your wisdom is certainly beyond your years." Sissy told her sarcastically. Emie frowned back at her.

"What can Sissy do that's better than Emie's quick-move thingy?" she told her. Sissy grew irritated with her.

"I can't use magic." Sissy told her as if chewing nails.

"Why is that?" Matt asked her candidly. "I remember you said you didn't know how before, but I've been meaning to ask why."

Sissy shot him a nasty look.

"Because I don't know how, dolt!" she told him angrily. Matt laughed her poor attitude off.

"I guess you're pretty useless then, huh?" Matt came back more joking than serious.

Sissy's ears unexpectedly lowered, folding back as if ashamed about it.

"I've always wanted to though..." she said sounding a little hurt.

She felt his hand on her shoulder, getting shy once again.

"It's okay if you don't know how." he told her comfortingly. "I was just giving you a hard time."

She weakly smiled at him as he did the same. Rachel, who knew nothing about what had happened between them, gave a funny look in their direction.

"You both have been acting a lot more friendly towards each other lately." Rachel pointed out. Sissy's face grew red, quickly smacking away Matt's hand to try and give the illusion that she still despised him.

"That's because I feel sorry for the idiot!" She said folding her arms. Matt smiled, seeing right through her act. Rachel shrugged it off, acting like it wasn't a big deal. Emie on the other hand wasn't as dense, remembering everything Sissy had told her the night before.

"Emie knows why Sissy likes Matt." Emie said aloud sounding sad, not realizing it was supposed to be a secret. Both Matt and Sissy looked at her with their heads darting. By the way they reacted, Rachel knew something was up.

"Wait a minute," Rachel said with her eyes slightly narrowing. "Sissy _likes_ Matt?"

"Shush Emie." Matt told her. Bomber, who had been told everything in the early hours of that morning, could feel the awkward tension in the air. He casually looked out to the plains, trying to pretend he knew nothing. Rachel shook her head with her hair in it's pony tail seemingly wagging side to side like the tail of an excited hound.

"Whoa now," Rachel said. "don't hold back anything from me. I came to help _you_ after all Matt."

Emie shook her head, frowning as if suddenly saddened even more.

"No Rachel didn't." Emie said, still not realizing that she wasn't supposed to be saying any of this to Rachel. "Matt said you made things worse."

Matt felt a knot in his stomach as Rachel glared at him.

"He did, did he?" Rachel said sounding offended. "And why would he say that?"

"Emie," Matt told her panicked, "Shush!"

Emie was almost on the verge of tears, not getting the hint to shut her trap.

"Because Matt isn't going back home with Rachel." Emie said aloud with tears of sorrow swelling up in her eyes "Matt didn't wanna go back home because Matt had sex with Sissy and said that Sissy was Matt's only reason for living."

Rachel stared at Emie, blinking only once with her mouth hung open. Emie spontaneously hugged onto Matt and started getting even more emotional. "Emie loves Matt more than Sissy does! Sissy is a meany! Emie should be Matt's only reason for living! Not Sissy!"

Rachel now stared at Matt, seeing that he was in just as much shock as she was. Rachel couldn't show her face to anyone from the embarrassment.

"Wait..." Rachel said in shock. "You're not coming back?"

Matt didn't know how to respond, now with Emie crying on his shoulder with her arms wrapped around him along with Sissy still hiding her face from everybody. Even if Sissy and Emie had made a truth, she couldn't get over the fact that Matt told Sissy that _she_, Sissy of all people, was his only reason for living and that _she_ was the reason he was staying. Rachel's expression grew discussed.

"...You and Sissy are together?" Rachel asked even more at a loss for words.

Sissy was almost anxious to hear his response to that with Emie shaking her head in tears.

"No!" Emie cried distressed. "Emie and Matt are supposed to be together! Not Sissy!"

Matt didn't know what to say, just staring back at Rachel speechlessly.

"Let me get this straight." Rachel said aloud sounding upset. "You weren't planning on telling me that you weren't coming back _and_ you've been leading two woman on at the same time." Rachel closed her eyes and shook her head. She put her hand on her forehead in frustration. "Once again you've screwed everyone over and treated their emotions like trash. Just be thankful you haven't drug Otto into this mess."

A bright flash appeared from behind them with Otto landing on his face onto the dirt Road. Rachel let out a frustrated moan.

"It seems I've spoken too soon..." Rachel grumbled.


	26. Chapter 26

_**Chapter 26**_

**(Some german is spoken in this chapter. I didn't use a translator, only my own knowledge. I apologize to everyone who speaks the language. Knowing myself, I most likely butchered it.)**

Laying flat on his face, Otto let out a delayed sound of pain. He was wearing gray denim shorts that went over his knees, a dark green polo shirt, and had a plain, matching colored bandana tied on his head with the 'tail' of it going down to the back of his neck. His shoes were black low tops with the laces looking like they had been hastily been tied together.

Bomber's feather's puffed up with him literally hopping into the air from the sudden fright. The backpack that was originally slung over his shoulder was now beside him, being, once again, a dark green. He raised his head, relieving his wasn't wearing his glasses. Otto had a feeling that his landing would go foul, so he had already planned ahead.

Everyone was now standing, just staring at him as he got up on his knees as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a glasses case and popped it open, taking his glasses out and putting them on. He blinked with his vision adjusting. Otto stared back at the odd crew of unexplained characters.

"Hey." Otto said standing up, dusting himself off. "I thought I'd just _drop_ by to see how you guys were doing."

He laughed at his own joke, seeing that nobody else was laughing. A Growlithe in the dress-like thing and a Meowth in shorts without a coin on it's forehead were looking at Matt, who had his head in his hands in distress. Rachel looked pissed. There was also a decently large bird with an aviator cap shaking in fear.

"W-where the hell did you come from?!" Bomber panicked. Rachel walked over to Otto with her hands clenched together. Before he could brace himself, she punched him full force in the gut. He wheezed in pain with all of the Pokemon still staring at Matt for an explaination.

"Why the hell did you come here?!" Rachel yelled. Otto looked up at her spiteful, fed up with her bullshit. He traveled to a universe to help them and _this_ how she was going to repay his kindness?

"What the hell is your problem?!" Otto said still hunched over in his pain. "I came to help!"

Rachel threw her arms in the air like she typically did when she was upset.

"Are you retarded?!" she yelled. "How the hell would you coming here help us?!"

Otto forced himself to erect his back, even if her punch did still sting.

"You're the one who told me that I was useless behind a keyboard!" Otto argued. "Now you're going to say that I'm stupid for coming to help?"

Rachel put her hand on her head as if she were holding back from blowing up in her rage. She narrowed her eyes at him as Matt began to hit his head in the background. His Pokemon couldn't fathom what the problem was or what the hell was even going on. Bomber most of all. Even though Matt had explained everything, it was another thing to grasp it all. The last thing he expected was someone to magically appear from nowhere.

"Otto," she said holding back her anger. "Matt isn't coming back."

He stared at her, blinked, then shook his head as if he didn't understand what she meant.

"The hell are you talking about?" he asked her. Otto looked behind her, seeing Matt still hitting himself. Rachel took a deep breath, clearly near her breaking point.

"Matt. Is. Not. Coming. Home." she told him fragmented. Otto still couldn't understand what she was getting at. Matt walked towards Rachel and Otto, shaking his head. Being the barer of bad news, it pained him to see his friend's lost look.

"I'm not coming back home." Matt told him. "I'm staying."

Otto looked mortified.

"What?! But-"

"Look," Matt interrupted. "I'm sorry I dragged both of you in this mess. I never intended on getting the two of you in this."

"But you said you were going to find Bill..." Otto told him in disbelief. Matt sighed, nodding his head at his friend.

"I still am," he explained. "but I'm now doing this to get Rachel back home, and now, you as well."

Matt felt like the biggest jackass in the world as he explained to both Rachel and Otto that he never had time to tell either of them before Rachel came. Not wanting to cause tension, he refrained from telling her in fear she'd act like she was now. That comment made her pissed, making her punch him in the chest.

"But why?" Otto asked him as if he were losing his best friend. "What's worth throwing away your old life?"

Matt frowned, as if he should already have some idea.

"My old life was terrible." Matt told without hesitation. "You know that, man. I have a fresh start here; a life that's already been special to me so far."

Matt turned his head and glanced at Sissy who's ears perked up when she saw him staring. He moved his head back towards Otto.

"Besides," he told him. "I made a promise to someone I really care about."

Sissy blushed with Emie hearing what Matt had said as well. She frowned, giving Sissy a dirty look.

"Matt still loves Emie better..." she grumbled. Sissy returned her distasteful comment with a dirty look of her own. Bomber was so confused, looking at everyone at a breakneck speed.

"Could someone _please_ enlighten me?" Bomber pleaded. "Who the hell is the dude in green and where the hell did he come from?!"

His outburst went unheard.

Otto couldn't believe this. He wasn't mad, rather, was heartbroken.

"But...but you're my best friend..." he told him. "You were just gonna stay here without even telling me you weren't coming back?"

Matt shook his head with Otto looking completely heartbroken. Rachel was biting her knuckle, trying to calm herself the best she could. It wasn't working.

"I was going to tell you," Matt explained trying to sound comforting, "but I didn't wanna tell you until everything was said and done. I thought it would have been easier that way."

Rachel shook her head, shoving her finger in his face.

"You are the most selfish person I have _ever_ met!" she yelled. "What about the people that need you?! What about the people that care about you? You're going to let them suffer just because _you_ want a 'better life?' That's bullshit, Matt!"

Matt grabbed her wrist and threw her arm down. He wasn't going to stand there and be insulted by someone who thought she could walk all over him.

"_I'm_ selfish?" Matt asked her, patting his chest. "I can't make my own choices? This is _my_ life dammit, not yours! I'll do what I want with it! And for your information nobody fucking needs me!"

"What about us?" Otto asked. "We need you, dude. Your the best friend I've ever had. Without you I wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as I have in life now."

Matt sighed, once again shaking his head.

"It pains me to say this," Matt told him, "but the two of you honestly don't need me. I've been nothing but a burden for both of you."

"Oh, for fuck sake," Rachel said rolling her eyes, "don't pull that 'feel sorry for me' card. That crap doesn't work anymore."

"Excuse me?" Matt told her offended. "_You're_ the one who told me I was useless on a daily basis! Shit, even when we were dating you used to tell me how useless I was."

"I did not!" Rachel yelled, well knowing that what he was saying was true. The least she could do was deny it the best she could.

"The only time you weren't complaining was when your mouth was busy!" Matt told her aggressively. "Sucking on my dick was probably on only way to make you shut up!"

Rachel slapped Matt across the face with a hand print being left. Sissy and Emie didn't know how to react to such news. Matt and Rachel had actually been together?

Moving his face back toward, he and rubbing his cheek and sighed.

"Okay," he told her, "I deserved that."

"Damn right you did!" Rachel yelled at him. "The next time you say something like that you're going to get your neck slit!"

Otto looked so hopeless. His arms looked limp, just dangling from his shoulders with his head lowered. Matt was his only real friend, excluding Rachel. Even then, he could hardly call _her_ a friend. Most of the time he felt like he was just her personal punching bag.

"So this is it then?" Otto asked him. "After all these years our friendship is over like this?"

Matt thrashed his head side to side almost upset he would imply such a cruel ideal.

"Don't think like that." Matt told him. "No matter what I'll be your friend. It's just that we're gonna be in different universes. Just think of it as a long distance friendship. Besides, we still need to find Bill. We've got a ways to go still."

Otto sighed with a slight nod of his head. He felt Matt put his hand on his shoulder.

"Come on man," Matt told him, "don't be like this. We're on a freaking adventure with _Pokemon_. How many people can you say have actually done that?"

Otto smirked, feeling slightly better.

"I guess you're right." Otto told him. "We might as well make the best of everything. I just...I don't want you to just be gone from my life."

Rachel couldn't believe any of this. She was so pissed, but held held back.

"Fine," she said with her arms crossed. "if you really wanna just say screw it all and abandon your friends, so be it."

"I don't know what to tell you guys." Matt told them. "I can't express how sorry I am."

The two of them didn't say anything.

Otto still looked heartbroken.

Rachel still looked pissed.

"How about we talk about this later." Matt told them. "For now, how about I introduce you to everyone?"

Matt moved out of the way so Otto could get a better look at his three Pokemon.

"I'd like you guys to meet my friend Otto." Matt told Sissy, Emie, and Bomber. "He's the one who built the machine that got me here in the first place."

He motioned towards Sissy.

"That's Sissy." Matt explained. "She's the one who almost killed me when I arrived."

She smiled at Otto, giving a slight bow of her head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." she spoke elegantly. Otto noticed the collar around her neck, already knowing what it was after all the research he'd done. Matt then motioned towards Emie, who was smiling at Otto. She thought the glasses he wore made him look cute.

"This is Emie." Matt went on to explain. "I met her along the way to Viridian."

"Half naked, mind you..." Sissy added under hear breath as if to insult Emie. Being her ditzy self, she didn't realize it was supposed to be a hateful comment. In fact, she thought Sissy was complementing her. Emie waved her hand at Otto with her eyes squinted and her tooth sticking out.

"Emie is very happy to meet Otto." she told him. Once again, Otto noticed a collar on her as well. The bell with the heart carve out made her look even more adorable than she already appeared to be to Otto. She was actually kinda hot.

"And this is Bomber." Matt finished, motioning towards Bomber, who was slowly managing to get his nerves calmed. "I met him yesterday actually. This guy can actually talk by himself believe it or not."

Even if Bomber was surprised by the fact that a guy showed up from nowhere, he still acted as normal as possible.

"Nice to meet you, Otto." he told him with a stretch of his wings. Otto was actually impressed by Matt's progress.

"You seem like you've been handling yourself pretty well." Otto complemented. "You look good for someone who-"

"Can we please just go?!" Rachel outburst in anger. "I'm done just sitting around her and I'm way to pissed to eat anymore. We're not gonna find Bill standing around!"

Matt looked at her concerned. She obviously wasn't taking the I'm-not-going-home-news very well. Rachel snatched up her backpack without another word and threw it over her shoulder. She shot Matt one last dirty look before stomping in the direction the Viridian forest. With no other choice really, the rest of the crew followed after her with a tension lingering in the air once more. 

Rachel took the lead with her hands gripped around the straps of her backpack and her knuckles appearing to whiten from how hard she was holding onto them. It was clear that she was still mad about everything. Bomber tried to talk with her like they had done once before, but this time was blown off by her. He sorta felt sad that she was too upset to talk to him, deciding it was best not to perch on her shoulder. Instead, he loyally perched on Matt's.

Emie was on Matt's left side with Otto being on his right. Sissy was the only one brave enough to walk beside Rachel, but only because she had her own intentions. After hearing that Rachel and Matt had been together, Sissy was wondering if she could ask a few questions. Although, gathering the courage to ask about such a personal matter was difficult for her. She mostly just walked side by side, every now and then barely opening her mouth, but shutting it closed before she drew attention to herself. Rachel was too upset to notice.

During the time they walked, Matt filled Otto in on everything that had happened. Some of the violence made Otto grow pale, but knew it wasn't unlike Matt to find trouble. Matt pretty much held nothing back, but every now and then would say a words in a foreign language to make sure Emie wouldn't understand. Both Otto and Matt had learned how to speak german when they were younger, although were far from fluent in doing so. They liked to refer to it as "Mutt German."

"_So,"_ Matt explained smugly, doing his best to speak german, "_wir hat auf den Schauer geflickt."_

Otto's eye's widened, looking over to Emie who was humming to herself.

"_Mit Emie?"_ Otto asked surprised. Emie glanced over to them after hearing her name, but went back to humming soon after. Bomber had no clue what they were saying, trying his best to decipher their 'code'. Matt nodded with a chuckle.

"_Es was...nett."_ Matt said with a conceded grin. Otto almost wanted to high five him.

"What are you guys saying?" Bomber asked them. Matt and Otto chuckled, looking at each other as if they weren't talking about anything dirty.

"Um, nothing important." Matt lied.

"It's nice being able to speak a different language sometimes." Otto said to himself out loud. Emie's humming grew louder with her beginning to sing to herself, completely off tempo with not a single bit of her lyrical 'masterpiece' rhyming. Otto's comment reminded Matt of something.

"Hey Otto, I've been meaning to ask something."

"Yeah?"

"Well, how is it that we know what everyone is saying. If we're from a different universe wouldn't that mean everyone would be speaking a competently different language?"

Otto smiled, glad his friend brought that up actually.

"Actually," he told him, "it's rather easy to understand why we speak the same language. You see-"

Emie continued singing as Otto explained in flawless detail how both of their dimensions just happened to speak the same language. She was really getting into the song.

"An' Emie is pre-_teh!_" she sang with her head bobbing side to side. "Pre-_teh,_ pre-_teh_ Em_-ie!"_

Otto finished his explanation with Matt nodding his head slowly, understanding everything he had been just explained.

"So _that's_ why we have twenty six letters..." Matt said with a sudden stroke of realization.

"Precisely." Otto told him, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"But what about dimensional travel?" Matt asked. "How is that even feasibly possible?"

Otto shrugged with a chuckle.

"It really isn't as complicated as you might think." Otto told him. "Imagine two wires-"

"Em-_ie_ so pre_-teh_ that she pre-_teh!"_ Emie continued to sing while Otto explained dimensional travel. Matt and Bomber both listened with their understanding of dimensional travel expanding.

"Sorta like a mirror?" Bomber inquired. Otto snapped his fingers with a confident nod of his head.

"Just like a mirror!" Otto said excited. Science always got him excited. "And guess what. Not only did I figure out how to travel through dimensions, but I also learned how it's possible to travel faster than the speed of light."

"Seriously?" Matt said impressed. "I thought that was impossible."

"Actually, it's so simple that a child could understand it. Think of a-"

"Emie is _uh_ supa sex-_eh_!" Emie sang with her tail swinging side to side with her hips as she walked beside Matt, who was being explained how to travel faster than the speed of light. "Emie is a _nyin_-ja! Em_-ie _is a s_uuu_pa _nyin_-ja!"

During this time, Rachel and Sissy still were a ways ahead of the rest of them. It was almost impossible for Sissy to think of a way to start her questioning. Should she even attempt it? Rachel was already in a bad mood and it would be unwise to cause even more angery. Still, her questions weren't going to be answered just by remaining silent. She had to break through the silence somehow.

"Um, hey, uh, Rachel?" Sissy asked. Rachel glanced over to her, not particularly looking like she was going to snap at her.

"Yeah?" she sighed.

Sissy looked down at the dirt road, now with the forest only about a mile away.

"I-I'm sorry." she told her. Rachel didn't understand what Sissy had done to make her sorry.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked her. Sissy started to feel shy about the subject of Matt.

"I'm sorry Matt is staying because of me." she told her. She glanced up at Rachel, seeing her have a half smile.

"You're really lucky." Rachel told her. "Even if Matt can be an idiot and a womanizer, I can tell he really cares about you a lot."

"R-really?" Sissy asked her. Rachel raised an eyebrow as if to say 'oh, come on; you know he does.'

"I see the way you two act around each other. I knew you guys didn't really hate each other. Although I didn't expect Matt to move so fast."

Sissy felt ashamed once again.

"T-that was sorta my fault too." Sissy told her. "He asked me multiple times if he was going fast. I don't know why, but it felt...right." Sissy hid her face embarrassed. "God, I must sound stupid to you."

There was a silent pause with Rachel soon laughing afterward.

"You're not stupid, Sissy." Rachel assured her. "In fact, I commend you on not jumping on like I did. Literally."

Sissy looked at her surprised. Rachel got a another laugh out of her reaction.

"I know, I know," Rachel told her with a grin. "Matt and I fight a lot. But that's just how I am. And yet..." She stopped, thinking deeply. "Yet he still cared about me a lot when we were dating. Matt's a good guy, granted, he does tend to chase women."

"Not to mention is a pervert." Sissy added jokingly.

"All guys are perverts in some shape of form." Rachel told her. "And yet us woman enjoy that fact. Go figure."

Sissy looked away with a forced frown.

"Well, I don't like it." Sissy said hiding her face. Rachel once again laughed.

"You can lie to yourself as much as you want," Rachel told her, "but come on. You and I both know that it means the world when you notice a guy checking you out."

Sissy didn't respond, only getting quiet, trying to hide the fact that Rachel was right. To change the subject, Sissy thought of something else to say.

"What should I do?" Sissy asked her.

"About what?"

"Matt." she clarified. "I really care about him, but... he thinks it's better that we're just friends. He probably didn't even mean that 'flame of life' stuff."

Rachel looked at her with her eyes narrowing in a inquisitive gesture.

"When did he tell you that?" she asked. Sissy looked confused.

"I thought you already knew?" Sissy meekly responded. Rachel shook her head.

"That's not what I meant." she told her. "I mean _when_ did he tell you?"

Sissy thought about Matt and her lying in bed together. She also remembered what it felt like to have him hold her. It made her feel warm- much warmer than normal. The thought of them kissing for the first time almost made her start to get emotional. Why were her emotions getting so razzed up? She was never the emotional type before she had met Matt. Sissy shook her head, forcing herself to not think about the other things that were flooding her mind.

"He told me when we were lying in bed after we had..."

"Sex?" Rachel finished. Sissy face grew red behind her orange fur.

"Y-yeah..."

"Whatever he told you then was the truth." Rachel explained to her. "I've known Matt long enough to know how he works. For some reason, maybe some brain chemistry, after he has sex he tells the truth, not matter what it may be. Whatever he tells you afterward is one hundred percent true."

There was another silent pause with hope filling Sissy's heart. Along with a burning question.

"Hey Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't you and Matt still together?" She asked her. Rachel chuckled to herself.

"Some people are just meant to be friends." she told her. "It's probably best we leave it at that. Besides, I can't see him as anything more than-"

Rachel halted in her tracks as they were getting very near the forest.

We was wearing a black suit with a matching tie and shoes. He was a slender, pale man who stood there in the distance between a few trees. His face was gone, only being a white silhouette. The man just stood there, being fairly tall. Maybe about six and a half feet tall. With a blink of an eye, the man was gone.

He had vanished without a trace.

"Are you alright?" Sissy asked her with the boys and Emie catching up. Rachel wasn't sure if she had admit to what she had saw. Deciding against it, she shook her head trying to act normal.

"It's nothing." she told her.

Reluctantly, she began to walking forward once again alongside Sissy.

And so, Matt and the crew continued onward into the Viridian forest with light hearted steps.

If only they had known the horrors that awaited them...


	27. Chapter 27

_**Chapter 27**_

"Is it just me or does anyone else feel freaked out about this place." Bomber shivered, still perched on Matt's shoulder. His feathers were puffed up from the chill of the stagnate air. The road they had been traveling on continued through the forest, but was gradually narrowing. Before they knew it, everyone was walking in a line just to stay on it.

Rachel still lead the way, getting an eery feeling. The bark on the trees looked like it was chipping off and rotting. The forest floor was covered in branches and needles from trees that were close together. There was the sound of a branch snapping, with everyone all at once looking around them. Emie was visibly shaking, now holding onto Matt's hand.

"E-e-emie's scared..." she stuttered in fear. Matt gripped her hand.

"That makes two of us." Matt told her seriously.

A strange whisper like noise was heard, but nobody could understand what it was saying. Sissy's fear was shown on her sleeves with her ears folding back completely. Bomber began to shake as well.

"Make that three of us." Bomber shivered. The hair on the back of Otto's neck stood on end with a freezing chill coming over him.

"I'm starting to regret coming..." Otto said with his teeth chattering. The only person who remained calm was Rachel.

"Come on guys," she told them. "It's just your minds playing tricks on you."

They pushed forward down the narrow path. The noises they heard ceased, but Rachel was beginning to feel like they were being watched. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something white. She glanced over as everyone kept walking forward.

Nothing was there.

Just her mind playing tricks with her again, she thought. 

After what seemed like forever, the road had ended.

In front of a tree...

Matt swore with Emie's hand still gripped on his. Sissy had also taken the liberty of being close to Matt, telling him she'd protect him if there was any kind of threat. Matt had felt safer hearing that. In all actually, Sissy just wanted an excuse to be close to him. Even if she didn't want to vocalize it to everyone, she was just as scared.

The tree that was in front of them was covered in moss and looked like it had been rotting for some time. It pretty much looked like all of the other trees, except there was something slightly different. A piece of paper had been taped onto it.

Rachel pulled it off the tree with the sound of something cracking behind them. Everyone jumped, looking around them in panic. Otto even put his fists up as if he were going to punch whatever it was that was plausibly sneaking up on them. The only one who kept their cool was Rachel.

"It's nothing you guys." she assured them, "Probably just some small animal or something."

Emie was so scared that she didn't realize her claws had extended, stabbing into Matt's hand.

Matt was so scared that he didn't realize that her claws were stabbing in him...

Feeling her heart stop for a moment, Rachel read the paper. There was a picture of a tall man with no face with the words "always watching" written above it in some sort of brown ink. Everyone watched Rachel scratch her finger, pulling it back to see it slightly stained.

"Is this...blood?..." Rachel said in disbelief.

Matt was looking at it surprised.

"It's that who I think it is?" Matt asked, remembering something he'd seen online a while ago. Otto glanced down at the picture of the figure.

"What the hell is that?" he asked her, as if she'd actually know. Rachel got mad at him.

"How the hell should I know?" she snarled. "Just because you're scared doesn't give you the right to ask retarded questions."

The crew kept staring at the drawing of the slender looking man on the paper. Emie buried her face in Matt's shoulder.

"Emie doesn't like it..." she said with her arms wrapped around Matt. Sissy was getting irritated with Emie latching onto Matt like some leach.

"Whatever that's supposed to be," Sissy said to everyone. "I hope it takes Emie first."

Emie's eye's closed shut with her face still nuzzled up against Matt's shoulder.

"NOOOO!" Emie cried with tears starting to form. "Emie doesn't wanna be taken by the scary man!"

Seeing Emie in so much terror made Sissy feel a little better about the situation. Emie was squeezing onto Matt so tight he swore he was going to break a rib. Sissy grinned, feeling sadistic pleasure in seeing Emie panic.

"Yeah," Sissy told her. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's planning on eating you alive."

"No no no no no no no!" Emie cried. "Emie doesn't wanna be eat-ed!"

Sissy made her ear's perk up and looked towards the sky, seeing the dark clouds were moving overhead.

"What's that?" Sissy asked, still trying to scare Emie. "I think I hear him now. He's saying 'I want to eat Emie!'"

Emie leapt up with her legs now clamped around Matt as well, crying her eyes out.

"NO! STAY AWAY SCARY MAN! STAY AWAY!"

Otto felt something cold on his shoulder, looking around, seeing nothing.

"Okay this place is creeping me out..." he muttered to himself in fear. Bomber couldn't stop shaking, vibrating Matt's shoulder in terror as Emie still hung onto Matt, who was trying to calm her down, but with little success.

"He's coming to get you Emie!" Sissy teased, not scared in the slightest anymore. She was having too much fun with Emie to be otherwise. Emie began shaking her head side to side with her tail spasming along with tears streaking down her face.

"NOOOOOOO! EMIE DOESN'T WANNA BE EAT-ED! NO-HO-HO_OOO!_"

Rachel froze still like a deer in headlights, being the only one staring back down the road from where they had come from. The thin man was standing in the distance.

He was motionless.

"Emie," Matt pleaded, "Sissy's just getting your goat, calm down."

Emie looked at Matt with tears still running down her face.

"But...but Emie has no goat..."

Sissy busted out in laughing due to Emie's lack of understanding of the phrase with Otto actually chuckling a little too, still scared out of his mind. Bomber was shaking so bad he couldn't stop moving, but forced himself to laugh with everyone else. Matt sighed, shaking his head.

"In other words," Matt told Emie, "Sissy is being a bitch like usual."

Sissy's laughter stopped with her eyes growing larger in sadness and her ears lowering again.

Rachel's eyes began to water as she and the faceless man stared each other down.

"You don't have to be so cruel about it..." Sissy told Matt. Finally letting go, Emie stood by Matt's side still shaking and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Emie's scared that the skinny man is gonna grab her."

Matt laughed, regaining his courage.

"Don't worry, Emie." he told her. "There's obviously no faceless man. Some kid probably drew this to scare people or something."

"Yeah Emie." Rachel said very slowly, still staring at the slender man. "It's just a fake. Let's just keep going on our way."

With that, everyone started walking around the tree and wandering deeper into the woods. Rachel followed behind them, forcing herself to look away from the faceless man. 

"So where are we even going?" Otto asked as they trudged through the forest. They had been walking for over an hour, making their way past the trees and foliage

"Pewter City." Matt told him with his map out. The name made Sissy smile.

"Mom and I are originally from their." Sissy told them. Bomber looked down at Sissy's attire, nodding his head with the goggles on his avatar cap wiggling slightly with him.

"I could sorta tell by the clothes you wear." he told her. "Wearing a dress like that is a dead giveaway."

"Yukata." Sissy corrected. Emie made a funny face, looking at Sissy's clothes.

"But Emie thought it was called a ko-mo-mo." Emie told her.

Everyone laughed with Emie feeling stupid. Her face brightened.

"You mean _kimono_." Sissy once again corrected. "A kimono it made of cotton. A yukata is made of silk."

Rachel was still following behind them, constantly looking around her and over her shoulders. She wasn't about to tell them what she had been seeing- it would only scare everyone. The most reasonable answer was that her mind was just playing tricks on her. It had to have been.

"I wonder how large this forest is." Matt said out loud. "I sorta expected to run into something by now; Maybe a Pokemon or a-"

"Scary man?..." Emie squeaked. Rustling her hair with a laugh, Matt made it clear that there was no such thing as a 'scary man' in the woods.

"Think about it," Matt told her. "why would a man in a suit be wandering the woods?"

Emie thought about it with her brain working at full power. She scrunched her face from thinking so hard. Telling that her ability to reason needed some...motivation, Matt helped her out.

"It was just a picture." he told her. "There's no such thing as a scary man."

Rachel stopped suddenly as the group continued onward.

Something felt wrong.

She turned her her head, seeing the man once again.

He was standing beside a tree a few feet away. She swallowed hard, walking backwards away from it with her body beginning to shake. Without even thinking she turned around and ran back to everyone, tripping over a tree root that was jutting out of the ground. Rachel hit the forest floor, letting out a curse. The group turned around to see her on the ground.

There was nothing there.

Sissy and and Matt came to her aid and helped her up, with her letting out a couch of pain.

"Have a nice trip?" Matt joked. Rachel shoved him, making him fall on his ass.

"Fuck you." she cursed upset. She kept walking forward with Matt getting up and rubbing his backside, now with some dirt on the back of his pants.

"Jeez, what's your deal?" Matt asked her. "I was just joking."

Rachel didn't say anything, pushing herself past Emie and Otto rudely. Bomber felt another shiver go up his spine as he was still on Matt's shoulder.

"I guess she's just as creeped out as we are." Bomber told him. Matt wasn't convinced. Something else was up, but knew Rachel wasn't going to tell. Maybe she _was_ just scared. 

The forest finally had a clearing with the group exiting the mob of trees that surrounded them. They all stopped, seeing that they were now on an open field surrounded by even more trees. In the middle of the field was a small cabin made entirely of wood. It looked dilapidated and aged beyond it's prime.

"What the hell is a cabin doing in the middle of the woods?" Matt wondered.

From nowhere, a fog began to roll. Emie began to shutter.

"Emie's scared." she told him. Matt wanted to tell her that everything was fine, but knew damn well something felt off about all of this. Otto shook his head, looking around as the fog began to get thicker.

"Where the heck is all this fog coming from?" he asked. "It was clear a minute ago."

The sky grew dark suddenly with everyone getting even more frightened.

"Emie is really scared Matt." She told him.

There was no response. She looked to her side, finding that Matt and Bomber were gone. She let out a shrill of horror with everyone looking at her, realizing that Matt had vanished along with Bomber who had been on his shoulder the entire time. Rachel's eyes watered, feeling something near. Sissy looked all around her, thinking that maybe Matt was playing some sort of joke. Otto got the same impression, doing the same thing.

"Matt?" Otto hollered. "Come on man, this isn't funny."

Something grabbed onto Emie's tail, pulling her down to into the ground. She let out a scream, disappearing into the low rolling fog. Sissy panicked, drawing her bokuto from her side. She held it with both hands, ready to strike.

"What's going on?!" Otto panicked. From the fog, something grabbed onto him, pulling him into the ground as well with him hollering before he disappeared. Sissy panicked, swinging her bokuto blindly in the fog as Rachel froze in fear. With bared teeth, Sissy held her ground. In a blink of an eye, she too was taken from the fog with a scream of terror.

Rachel looked all around her, seeing that everyone was gone.

She was alone in the fog.

The sound of maniacal laughter rang in her ears, coming from the forest they had just exited. Rachel turned in that direction, seeing the figure of a man. He wore tattered rags as clothes with scars covering his face. His eyes were a hellish red. A large yellow-toothed smile was on his face as he slowly began to approach her at a walking pace.

With her heart pounding and mind racing, she fled in the direction of the cabin with the laughter only growing. Rachel ran as fast as she could, only to trip over her own feet in panic. The figure drew closer to her with what looked like a meat cleaver in his hand. She was so scared she couldn't even move, only able to shake and convulse.

Step by step it came closer to her. It was like it were toying with Rachel, just savoring her expression of fear and torment. It took the cleaver and began to slide it across it's arm. A black substance drained from it, covering the edge of his knife.

"I've always wanted to play with such a pretty young woman." it giggled. Not laughed, but giggled. There was some sort of bliss that this man, if you could even call him that, got from threatening her. He waved the knife around with the fog still as thick as ever. It took another step towards her, being only a few feet away from her as Rachel sat on the grass in absolute shock.

It raised the cleaver high in the air with it's smile growing in size, laughing even louder. Rachel began to cry, closing her eyes from the unexplainable events taking place. The sound of something slicing through flesh made the laughing cease. She opened her eyes, seeing an open-palmed hand through it's chest. With the fog clearing, another figure was seen behind the man with it's hand inside the man's chest

There was a cracking noise as the man with the cleaver's torso literally fell off of his under body, landing on the grass below. A black substance drained out of him. His body soon turned into a black mist that drifted away into thin air. The only two people left were Rachel and the figure that had killed the man about to slaughter her.

It was the faceless man in the suit.

Rachel tensed up as he approached her. A wave of boldness overcame her as she stared him down.

"I'm not afraid of you, Slender man." She told him with bared teeth. Her body however showed that she was lying, completely terrorized of him. The slender man stood before her with his face altering. Eyes formed, being a deep purple color along with a small, thin mouth. Hair appeared on his head being a dark brown with matching eyebrows. Oddly enough, he smirked at her.

"I think you have me mistaken with another person, dear." he told her with his voice sounding enlightened. For someone who just ran their bare hand through a person's body he sure acted dapper. His pale skin made his eyes stand out even more than they already did. "Whoever this 'Slender man' is he should be wary of such a woman. I think you're the only person who's dared speak out against me."

Rachel stared back at him.

"So...what are you going to do to me?" she asked, expecting the same fate as the man from before. Rachel flinched when he extended his hand to her.

"Help you up, for one thing." he told her. "I do apologize for waiting so long to act. You must be scared silly."

Rachel nervously took his hand, feeling that it was slightly cool. Not cold, but cool. It oddly enough relaxed her a bit with the tension in her muscles slowly releasing. The man in the suit helped her up with Rachel thanking him. After doing so, she remembered that her friends had been suddenly taken by something.

"My friends!" she panicked. "What...what did you do to them?!"

The slender man pulled his head back almost hurt that she would assume _he_ of all people would do such a thing.

"It wasn't I who took your friends, dear." he told her. Rachel, having trouble understanding everything that was going on, shook her head with fear in her eyes.

"Then where are they?!" she panicked.

The fog began to disappear with multiple figures. Over a dozen actually. They formed a large circle around them. Rachel jerked her head in all directions, seeing the faces of men who all looked identical. Withing seconds, their forms changed, turning into disturbing figures with skin dark as night. Their eyes were a bloody red, all with teeth bared.

"You damn traitor!" one of them yelled with a raspy voice. "Helping a human?!"

The man in the suit turned to the one who was speaking with his hands in his pants pockets. Being strangely proper, he gave a slight bow of his head.

"I'm afraid I am, Jasper." he responded. "Although I believe I warned you that I might. Oh, how I feared that we would come to each other in some conflict. Please forgive me, but I didn't approve of you harming this one, nor any of the others for that matter."

"She's just like the rest of them!" the figure named Jasper roared back. "She deserves to be harvested just like the others!"

The man in the suit sighed, as if saddened by Jasper's narrow thinking.

"You forget that I've been dead for much longer than you, young one." the suited man told him. "May I also remind you that you are only a Gastly?"

The dark figure thrashed his arm about in anger.

"You're nothing but a damn traitor!" Jasper told him. The suited man shook his head.

"How can I be a traitor if I've never approved of this harvesting to begin with?" the pale suited man asked him. "I must remind you that I never found pleasure in it."

Jasper frowned with his yellow teeth showing.

"You've always tried to act like a damn gentleman," Jasper told him. "yet you're the worst of us all."

"I will not argue with that." the suited man agreed. "I am indeed the worst of all of you. Therefor, I warm you to leave this young woman be."

The black figures closed in on them.

"That ain't gonna happen." Jasper told him. The suited man kept his hands in his pockets with a slight nod.

"As you wish." he told them. Rachel watched as he radiated a purple glow around himself. He winked at her with a confident smile

Rachel didn't know what to say to him, only able to stare as the dark figures made their moves.

The suited man pulled a single hand from his pockets as he was bum rushed by the figures. With quickness unmatchable, he moved his hand with the grace of a blade, chopping into each one of them with darkness seeping from them as they too damage.

Motioning his hand to the side, a purple barrier protected him as a ball of darkness was shot in his direction. The barrier evaporated with the suited man motioning his hand in odd formations, then bolting his hand upward. A purple spike came from the earth, stabbing into one of the black figures. Rachel felt someone grab her, being pulled by her backpack by one of the figures.

As fast as lightning, the suited man turned his head in the direction of the figure taking Rachel. He lifted his hand with an open palm with purple light shining from it, then quickly closing it into a fist. The figure's head burst into chunks with blackness shooting out from him. Rachel fell to the ground once more when it turned to a black mist.

The suited man dodged an attack from one of the figures, moving his head only a few inches away from the lobbed strike. With complete ease, the suited man grabbed onto it's head with only one hand, still with the other in his pocket. In a single motion, he twisted his hand to the right, snapping the neck of the figure. It turned to black mist like the rest.

The rest of the figures had no choice but to retreat, disappearing in thin air with only one of the figures remaining, being the one named Jasper.

"This isn't over." he told the suited man before disappearing.

Rachel stood there with the suited man sighing, flexing his hand.

"I can't believe how rusty I am." he said aloud. "Not having fought for some time has definitely taken it's toll."

He certainly could have fooled Rachel. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"Who-no, _what_ are you?!" she panicked. "And what were those things?!"

The suited man gave a single laugh, hitting his hand on his forehead.

"Where are my manners?" he laughed. "I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Laurence. Those people who took your friends were Gastlys."

Rachel's Pokemon knowledge was terrible, but remembered that Gastlys were supposed to be ghost-like things.

"Then...are you a Gastly too?" Rachel asked him.

"Hardly." he told her. "I'm a Gengar- much stronger than a mere Gastly. I would show you my true form, though, I fear you wouldn't like what you saw. I just wish I could have scared you all off before you ventured this far into the forest. I was afraid this would happen."

Rachel remembered the note.

"You were trying to scare us away so this wouldn't happen?" she asked him. The man nodded, with a regretful sigh.

"I was trying to get you to walk _around_ the forest, not through it." he explained. "My act worked on the rest who tried to pass through here. It worked on the young man in the white jacket, the two silly fools who wore suits of grass, and even a man with spiked red hair who have looked fairly intimidating to most. I believe he also referred to someone named 'widow maker,' though I saw no one else with him."

Rachel worried, almost about to hyperventilate.

"My friends! My-my friends! They...they-"

She began to cry, unable to handle the situation any longer. Laurence put his hand on he side of her cheek, wiping the tear from her eye.

"Calm down, dear." he said soothingly. "There's no reason to panic."

He pointed at the cabin.

"They're most likely being prepared for harvesting as we speak." he explained. "They'll be alright if we hurry. I need you to be strong for me, alright?"

Rachel looked into his eyes, entranced by them.

"What do you mean by harvesting?" she asked him worried. Laurence looked back at her with all seriousness.

"That cabin as actually a gateway to a much larger place." he explained. "Within those walls, they are all about to witness what fear really is."


	28. Chapter 28

_**Chapter 28**_

Otto opened his eyes in a slight daze. He sat up slowly, looking around to see that he was in a room with wooden walls and flooring. There were claw marks on the walls with strange symbols and markings. He was lying on a bed that smelt of fabric softener and moth balls. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he recalled was being grabbed from behind in the fog. What the heck happened?

He placed his feet down on the wooden floor, sitting on the side of the bed with his head hurting. Glancing around the room he was in, it looked like some fancy lodge hotel room he had once stayed in when he was traveling on business. Except without all the markings on the wall, of course. Standing up proved to be difficult with his body for some reason feeling drained and exhausted. Not to mention his backpack was missing.

"Hello mister!"

Otto's head snapped up, seeing a little boy standing by the door- a door that wasn't there a moment ago. He nearly jumped from fright. The little boy smiled at him with his sweat pants and his torn tee shirt looking like they had seen better days. He had glasses on too that were almost identical to Otto's. An unknown sensation began to overcome Otto.

"Do you know where my mommy is?" he asked him. Otto didn't know if he were experiencing a hallucination or not. Either way, he was officially creeped out. Too freaked out to speak, he shook his head wordlessly. The little boy frowned as if disappointed.

"Oh..." he said saddened. "Could you help me look for her."

Otto for some reason just nodded out of reflex. It wasn't like he could say no to such an innocent little kid. The kid's smile returned with his hand extending out to him. Otto had his reservations on taking it at first, but finally grabbed it. For a little boy she sure had a hell of a grip.

"Come on!" he told Otto excited. "Let's go find my mommy!" 

Laurence opened the door for Rachel, leading her inside the cabin. There was an old, musty smell that burnt the hairs of her nose. She followed close to Laurence's side as they slowly walked into a strange looking living room that sort of resembled the one in Don's home.

The living room was fairly empty with only an old rocking chair in the middle with a brown rug resting beneath it. Rachel looked around to find that there were no other doors- not even windows. The only thing lighting the place were some candles sitting in a corner of the room. Other than that, it was a little dark. Rachel felt cold all of a sudden.

"What is this place?" she asked Laurence. They stopped a few feet away from the chair.

"That my dear would take a long time to explain." he told her honestly. "All I can really say for now that it's a place human's and Pokemon alike shouldn't be in. It's a realm of nightmares and terrors."

Rachel shook her head at him not understanding what he meant.

"I'm sorry, but I don't get it." she told him. With a charming smile, Laurence nodded his head.

"Think of this place as a personal hell for anyone who steps foot inside." he explained to her with the candles in the corner flickering. "Your worst nightmares come to life here. There is no structure nor order in a place like this. Only chaos and corruption."

The rocking chair began to slowly rock by itself, making Rachel take a step back in fear. Laurence stood calmly in front of her as the rocking of the chair intensified. He glanced back at her with his purple eyes gleaming with confidence.

"With myself at your disposal you have nothing to fear, my dear."

A dark figure appeared rocking in the chair with it's legs crossed and it's hands in it's lap. Casually, it put it's legs down onto the floor and stood up with a yellow-toothed grin directed at both of them. Rachel could only assume that it was supposed to be a Gastly.

"Laurence," it said with it's voice deep and distorted. "you of all people should know to never trust a woman. They cause you nothing but trouble."

From nowhere, an ax was in it's clutches, as if spawning from the air itself. Laurence sighed, as if he were disappointed in the Gastly's attempt to intimidate them. Rachel was more than intimidated however. She was scared shitless.

"Please don't waste my time, young one." Laurence told him, sounding as if he were asking politely for him to leave them be. He was acting like the ax baring Gastly wasn't a threat. Honestly, to Laurence, he was just a nuisance. The Gastly raised it's ax with a maniacal laugh.

On the downswing, the ax stopped. Rachel was mortified, seeing that Laurence had simply stuck out his hand, stopping the edged weapon with the palm of his hand as it emanated a purple glow. Like clockwork, Laurence gripped onto the ax's edge, grabbing onto it like it were made of plastic. With a quick yank, he pulled the ax out of the Gastly's hand and threw it over his shoulder. Rachel made sure to duck her head as it hurdled through the air, getting stuck into the wooden door they had entered through previously.

The Gastly hadn't expected that to happen, staring at Laurence with surprise. His expression was met with Laurence grabbing it's wrist and twisting. A loud and stomach turning crack was made with the Gastly not making a single cry of pain. Even if it didn't scream, the shimer in it's red eyes showed just how much agony it was in. Laurence wasn't finished with only a simple wrist-twist however.

He pulled the Gastly closer, ramming his other fist into it's chest. The wrist that he was still holding onto literally ripped off as the Gastly the knocked back by the punch. A black substance sprayed out of it's arm, making Rachel cover her eyes. She could feel it splattering on the back of her hands with what sounded like water jetting out of a hose ringing in her ears.

Laurence tossed the hand to the on the ground with the Gastly disappearing into a black mist like the rest had done after Laurence was through with them. Rachel removed the hands from her face, seeing that he Gastly was now gone along with Laurence smiling at her warmly. It was as if nothing had happened.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked her with a laugh. Rachel didn't know what to say. A door appeared on another other wall with Laurence heading towards it with Rachel following close by his side. 

Otto was lead into another room, looking like some sort of kitchen. In fact, it looked a lot like the kitchen in the house he grew up in. There were even more markings on the wall as well as a woman who was in her early thirties standing over the kitchen sink. The kid ran to her with the mother not even noticing Otto standing behind her. The little boy pulled on his mother's arm with her glaring at him.

"I told you I was busy!" she yelled at him. Otto watched as the kid lowered his head.

"But you're always busy!" he told her upset. The woman turned from the sink and faced her child, being almost half her size.

"What did I tell you about talking to me like that, you ungrateful brat!"

She slapped the side of his head, making Otto jump from the sudden surprise. The kid quickly covered the side of his head where he had been slapped, closing his eyes in pain.

"I'm sorry!" he told her. She slapped the side of his head again, totally negating his hand that was supposed to be protecting him. Otto had jumped once again. A tear ran down the boy's face with Otto starting to cry as well.

"You're not sorry enough you little shit!" she hollered, slapping the side of his head again. "I work all day for some ungrateful husband and good for nothing son! The least you could do is leave me the hell alone!"

She slapped him again with Otto covering his own head. The sound of the slapping hurt his ears and watching it was almost unbearable. Otto saw that the kids ear was now bleeding, with blood running down the side of his face as his mother kept hitting him.

"For Christ sake!" Otto yelled. "Stop hitting him!"

The mother didn't hear Otto at all. It was as if he didn't exist to her.

"Mommy!" the child begged, being slapped in the head again. "Please stop! I'm sorry! I'll leave you alone!"

Another slap. Then another slap. God, another slap. The constant hitting made Otto hold his ears, trying to stop the horrid noise. The kid's glasses fell off, landing on the floor. The lenses cracked with Otto finally snapping, unable to handle anymore of this. It was as if he lost control of his body.

He rushed up towards the woman, grabbing her by the head. His adrenaline was pumping and his anger was uncontrollable. Without even thinking, Otto smashed the mother's head into the counter near the sink, getting blood on it. He did it once again, this time even harder with tears streaming down his face. This bitch had ruined his childhood.

"You fucking bitch!" he yelled, smashing her head into the counter once again. "Don't you ever hit me again!"

With a loud crack, he rammed her head into the counter for the final time. He let go of her with her body limply sliding off the counter and onto the floor. Her head had been so badly beaten that her skull had slightly caved in with blood seeping out from her onto the floor.

The little boy reached down and grabbed his cracked glasses, putting them on to see Otto's face clearly along with his dead mother on the floor. Expressionless, he stared at Otto, who knelt down beside him. They hugged with Otto crying.

"She can't hurt us anymore." he told him in tears. "She's never gonna hurt us again." 

Laurence and Rachel entered the next room, this one being empty as well. Looking around Rachel didn't see anything. No doors. No Windows. Nothing.

"I don't get it." she told him. "I thought this place was supposed to be frightening."

"It is." Laurence told her. "But I'm with you. The Gastly's know that any trickery with me around is bound to end poorly. Although I fear for your friends."

"Why is that?" she asked him as they walked into the center of the room. Laurence closed his eyes, thinking deeply to himself. There was a moment of silence.

"Every man and woman has something they fear." he told her. "Even the most hardened of people are frightened by something, whether it be from their past or simply something conjured from their own minds. Without someone to help, your friends are as good as harvested."

Rachel was worried for everyone, but was still unsure what he meant by harvested.

"What do you mean?" she asked him. Laurence, still with his eyes closed, put his hand up to his chin and rubbed it.

"Gastly's feed off of fear, needing a person or Pokemon's terror to continue to live. When they harvest someone that means they take them, put them in seclusion, and torment them as much as they want. After a while, the host they torment is drained, dying from the fear and pain they've gone through."

"What about you?" Rachel asked him as they stood in the middle of the room. "Do you feed off of people?..."

Laurence opened his eyes, smiling at her assuringly.

"No, my dear, I do not. You see, as a Gengar, I've learned how to feed off of personal vice as well as...other things."

"What would that be?" she asked him. A door appeared on one of the walls.

"Let's continue, shall we?"

Laurence then proceeded to head for the other door, leaving Rachel's question unanswered. 

Otto was still crying, holding onto the child. Unexpectedly, the child started laughing with Otto letting go. He fell backwards, seeing that the little kid was no longer a kid. It was a dark figure with red eyes, laughing like an insane person. Otto frantically pushed himself backwards away from whatever it was, non in fear for his life. The dead woman on the floor turned into another dark figure, just as entertained with what had happened.

"I didn't realize anyone could do that to there own mother." One of them said with a giggle. Otto was mortified, now with his back up against the wall and his butt still on the floor. They slowly approached him with Otto putting his head between his knees and closing his eyes shut.

"This isn't happening..." he told himself. "This is all just in my head..."

The sound of flesh being run through made the laughing stop. Otto opened his eyes, seeing that the two figures were now on the ground. They turned to mist with a man standing before him now. He wore a black suit and had pale skin. Otto was so scared he didn't have time to look at his face, spurting out the first thing that came to mind as he covered his eyes.

"Slender man!" Otto cried. There was the sound of an irritated sigh.

"I honestly have no clue who this Slender man is," the suited man told him, "but it sounds that he has quite a reputation."

Confused, Otto looked up at the man in the suit, seeing that he had purple eyes and a smile on his face. He extended his hand with Otto staring at it.

"It's okay." he heard Rachel say behind the slender looking man in the suit. "He's here to help us."

Rachel came in view, coming from a door that Otto hadn't realized was there before. Was it?

Laurence helped Otto up off the floor with Rachel coming over to help as well. Otto looked sickly and felt like he was going to throw up.

"I just bashed my mothers head into the counter..." he told them distraught. Laurence shook his head, looking directly at him.

"It's just a trick." Laurence told him, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. "The Gastly's were using your memories against you. You didn't really bash your mother's head in."

Otto shook his head, still in complete shook at what he had just done.

"I don't understand this." Otto said to himself. "I don't understand _any_ of this."

"And you don't have to." Laurence told him. "Just know that it was all fake."

Otto wasn't listening to a word of what he was saying. The imagine of his mother's head caved in had made him feel disgusted with himself.

"Otto," Rachel told him. "It wasn't real. Whatever happened wasn't real! Snap out of it already!"

Otto shook his head, holding his hands over his eyes and began to cry.

"I just killed my mom..." he repeated. "Oh god, what have I done?..."

Rachel looked at Laurence worried.

"What's wrong with him?!" she asked. Laurence frowned, putting a hand on Otto's shoulder.

"He's just in shock," Laurence told her as Otto kept repeating that his mother was killed. "but I fear if we don't find the others soon it might be worse."


	29. Chapter 29

_**Chapter 29**_

His body was limp.

His vision was dazed.

Matt opened his eyes, seeing a haze of darkness and uncertainty. God, his body felt terrible. Being too exhausted to move, he could hardly even adjust his own head. Deducing that he was sitting in some kind of wooden chair was the best he could do at the time. Matt blinked, seeing a dark figure approached him.

The pain he was in made it impossible for him to visibly panic, but a fear was bubbling in his chest. The figure grew nearer, soon with Matt realizing that there were two of them. In his state of deliriousness, he couldn't tell what they were doing. Something cold pressed against the back of his right hand, resting on the arm of the chair. Pressure built up, starting to feel a stabbing pain.

Crunch!

"_**GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

Matt screamed in shattering pain as he felt something driven through his hand. Adrenaline and pain made him now completely aware with his heart pounding faster than it should have been. The thumping in his chest outdid his frantic breathing. His eyes watered in pain, however, he got a better image of the two figures standing in front of him.

Standing directly in front of him was a dark figure with red eyes, being a foot taller than the other. He had muscular arms and wasn't wearing a stitch of clothes. Somehow, he didn't show (or perhaps didn't have) gentiles. It was just a smoothed over dark spot with a bulge. He had a large yellow-toothed smile, enjoying Matt's suffering.

The other figure was that of a female, having palish-purple skin. Her hair was identical to her skin, being styled to her right (being Matt's left) and had red eyes, being slightly a lighter tint. Having the figure of a woman, it appeared that she had a large purple shirt, identical to everything else about her, that went down to her knees.

"See?" a male said to the female. "It's simple. All you have to do is place the nail like so-"

Matt felt another sharp point, now on the back of his left hand.

"And then you hammer it in, like this!"

Crack!

"_**HUH-AHHHHH!"**_

The female stared at Matt just as terrified as another nail was nailed into his other hand. The pain was so intense that Matt had begun to cry. He stopped himself, clenching his teeth and glaring at the male figure who had nailed his hands to the chair. The male smirked back.

"You see," he told the female, "this little punk might act tough, but everyone has their weaknesses. Remember to always enter their bodies when they're asleep or unconscious. That way it's easier to learn the dark secrets in the far corners of their mind. Go ahead, try it."

The female looked at the male unsure, as if feeling sorrow for Matt.

"But...I don't think I can do it, Jasper." she told him with the sound of emotion in her voice. Jasper glared at her, swinging the hammer he had in his hand, smashing it against the side of Matt's head. The blow was so hard, Matt's vision was gone.

"We've been over this before," Jasper told her upset. "he's just a meat bag meant for harvesting. Don't act like you can't do it. You're a Haunter for goodness sakes. When you were alive you'd do this in a heartbeat."

Matt blinked, still unable to see a damn thing. He could feel tears running down his cheeks. There was a silent pause. Matt couldn't describe it, but it felt like there was a sense of pity in the air. Maybe it was just because he had been hit in the side of the head with a hammer...

"This feels so wrong..." she finally told him. "I don't think I can do this..."

Matt's vision slowly returned, seeing the one referred to as Jasper getting in her face.

"Do you want to die?" he asked her, almost sounding like a threat. "If you don't feed off of him then you're going to fade away. Is that what you really want?"

"N-no..." she told him, hiding her face from Jasper. "I...I just feel sorry for him..."

"Don't." Jasper told her, waving the hammer in the air. "He isn't worth feeling sorry for."

Jasper swung it down and hit Matt's knee with the sound of a cracking being made. The intensity of the blow made Matt let out a silent scream, convulsing his head back. He began to pant with another tear rolling down his face. Jasper tossed the hammer down onto the floor and motioned at the female, then pointed at Matt.

"He's yours now." he told her, walking away towards a wall in the empty room. "I have to go check up on his Pokemon and his stupid friend with the glasses. It wouldn't be a harvest without having a little fun with them before finishing them off."

Jasper chuckled to himself with Matt's eye's shooting open. The female saw this, taking a step back from surprise. With blood in his mouth, Matt bared his clenched teeth.

"NO!" Matt yelled at the top of his lungs. "STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY POKEMON!"

Jasper ignored him, walking through the wall, leaving Matt alone with the female haunter. Matt began to thrash his body around, still with his hands nailed to the chair.

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" he cried. "GET THE FUCK BACK HERE! STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM, YOU BASTARD!"

He kept thrashing with the Haunter backing away from him unsure. She stared at the wall Jasper had left out of, then back to Matt who was still thrashing about. Finally, he stopped himself due to being in too much pain. Being totally restrained by the nails, he hung his head and began to sob. The Haunter forced herself to get serious, clenching her fists closed and stepping forward towards Matt.

She put his hand on his, getting his blood on her as she did it. Her touch was cold, making Matt shiver. He looked up at her, seeing that she was forcing herself to narrow her eyes at him. Even so, he saw something else. Remorse? Regret? It was hard to tell in his condition. Whatever it was, it was making her hesitate.

Suddenly, she became transparent, coming closer to him. Matt felt a chill as she literally entered his body. The feeling of her literally in his mind made Matt feel...odd. Emotions that weren't his arose. He felt rejection, shame, uncertainty, and even horniness. The Haunter had begun to search his mind as she had been instructed. 

Rachel and Laurence entered the next room, seeing that it was just as bare as the last one. Otto kept repeating to himself that he had killed his mother, still delirious about the whole ordeal. He was starting to get a grip, but still had trouble with the image of his mothers head being bashed in.

"Laurence," Rachel said unsure, "what's the point of 'harvesting?' I know it's supposed to be meant for feeding or whatever, but how is it done? Just scaring the shit out of people?"

Laurence looked around the empty room, thinking to himself. He stopped and put his hand on his chin again, trying to remember the way around the damned dimension they were in.

"That's a part of it, yes," he told her. "but there's more to it than that. The Gastly's have to enter the body to absorb it's energy. When they enter the body they can siphon it's life source."

"Than why bother scaring them?" Rachel asked him as they stood there, with Otto additionally resiting to himself that he had killed his mom. "Why not just enter the body and be done with it?"

Laurence remembered the right direction to go, motioning his hand to the right wall.

"For two reasons, dear." he told her. "One, they enjoy it, and two, they need to weaken them with fear and physical punishment so that they're easy to infiltrate. It gives them more leverage when they're conjoined spiritually."

A door appeared, with Laurence walking towards it. Otto and Rachel followed behind him with the sound of the floor creaking.

"Conjoined spiritually?" Rachel repeated. Laurence opened the door for them as they entered. He followed behind them as they came into another empty room.

"When a Gastly, Haunter, or even myself, a Gengar, enter a body we are spiritually connected to them. They'll share thoughts and feelings, strength and energy, anything they choose to embrace or to accept. The two of them become one in a sense. It's then up to them to fight internally over who controls who. The stronger will dominate the weaker if they chose to, able to absorb their essence and take from them what they chose."

"I don't like the sound of that." Rachel told him. Laurence nodded as he made another door appearing on the far wall of the room.

"Nor do I, dear." he told her. "That's why we must hurry." 

Bomber opened his eyes. It was dark and cold. He was lying on the bottom of a cramped bird cage, dazed and confused. He shook his head, trying to remember what had happened. The last thing he recalled was that he had been on Matt's shoulder, then suddenly they were grabbed from below the ground. That's all he could recall.

The room outside the cage was ill lit with candles surrounding the room. The sound of sniffling made him look over to his right. Sitting on the floor in a fetal ball was Emie. She was crying with her body trembling. Bomber thought she looked miserable.

"Emie?" he said softly. Her ears perked up, looking over at the bird cage. Her eyes got big with her tears temporarily ceasing.

"Birdy?" she asked him. Emie leapt off the floor and grabbed onto the cage, nearly knocking Bomber off balance. She embraced the cage with her arms wrapped around it. In addition, her chest was being pushed into the cage. Bomber tried not to stare at her cleavage, but was a little hard not to when it was so close to him. "Emie thought that Birdy was dead!"

She let go of the cage, letting it swing on the chain it was hung up on.

"I'm fine, Emie." Bomber told her with a confident tone. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

"She's home," a voice with a strange cowboy drawl responded from the other side of the room. "that's where she is."

Like magic, the room transformed before Bomber's eyes. Not much had changed, except the wooden room with markings turned into an attic with cobwebs and a musky smell. Bomber turned his head, seeing a man in a cowboy hat. He wore a denim jacket and cowboy boots with strange, pink laces. Beside him stood a very thin and malnourished looking Meowth.

Emie's eyes grew even wider, backing away from the birdcage and into a wall of the attic. The cowboy took a few steps in her direction with Emie frozen in paralyzed fear. Bomber saw the Meowth started to eye him, licking her lips stoically with tired eyes. He too began to worry for his own safety. The cowboy opened his arms and smiled.

"Avie and I missed ya'" he told her with his smile widening. Bomber wasn't certain, but he swore he saw a yellow-toothed grin when he did. The Meowth walked towards the cage Bomber was trapped in, licking her lips again. He swallowed hard, worried that he was about to be her next meal.

Emie was in absolute terror, shaking her head in disbelief. The cowboy laughed at her, coming up right to her face.

"Haven't you missed Mikhail at all?" he asked her. He stroked her cheek with Emie clenching her eyes closed, shaking her head again. The man grabbed her arm and tightly squeezed.

"Well," he told her, "I missed you, princess. Not to mention our love..."

He pushed his body up to her's with a sadistic laugh. Emie started to cry as he stroked her cheek again.

"Take off your clothes, would you?" he asked her trying to sound polite. "Please don't make me do it for you."

The other Meowth stared at the cage with hungry eyes. Even about to become Meowth food, Bomber couldn't take his eyes off of Emie as she began to cry. She was completely helpless. Unwillingly, she grabbed the bottom of her tank top and slowly pulled it off. He could see her shaking.

The Meowth in front of him shook the cage with a smile. Bomber shook about in the cage, hitting the bars of it over and over again. He swore, finally with the Meowth stopping to laugh. Bomber laid on his front, looking over at Emie again, watching as she took off her pants. In a black bra and hot red panties, she covered herself in front of the man in the pink laced boots.

Emie had always been comfortable about her body and actually preferred not to wear clothes. Being with Mikhail was another story however. She knew what he wanted and didn't want to give him the 'love' he so much desired. Bomber saw how helpless she looked, getting angry that someone would willing take advantage of her like that.

Bomber began to quickly think to himself. Using his years of logic he had gained with his previous owner, he began to piece things together to the best of his ability. They had no idea where they were. The only logical thing was that they had been taken to the attic of the cabin, which was owned by this man and his-"

The Meowth in front of him changed it's face for a moment, only momentarily relieving it's true form. This wasn't an attic. He had even seen it change before his eyes. These weren't people either. They were Gastlys. He looked over at Emie, who had now taken off her bra. The sight of her boobs would have normally distracted his train of thought, but pushed forward regardless to tell her what he needed to say.

"Emie!" he cried. "That isn't really the person you think it is!"

Emie acted like she didn't hear him, reaching for her panties in tears as the Gastly appearing to be a cowboy just smiled. She pulled them down to her ankles, being completely naked in front of everyone. Bomber had to speak in terms she would understand.

"Emie!" he cried once again. "It's an evil wizard pretending to be Mi-um-_shit, what was his name?...-_oh! That's it! Mikhail! That's not Mikhail, Emie! It's an evil Wizard!"

Emie was covering her body and was shaking. She looked over at Bomber unsure. How could any of this be fake? He was standing right in front of her. That _had_ to be Mikhail.

Bomber swore, knowing that she wasn't going to believe him. He had to do something, even if it was going to end up getting himself in deeper shit than he already was in. Bomber looked at the Meowth, forcing himself to back up against he wall of the cage. Clearly seeing that it had no intentions on letting him out any time soon and that he wasn't strong enough to break the bars, he had to use his brain power to get out.

"Don't let me out of here!" he begged. "Please, don't open the cage!"

The Gastly pretending to be a Meowth smiled, getting a 'bright' idea. It reached for the lock of the cage, undoing it. Bomber's act of being scared turned into a smug laugh. Without a second thought about it, he rammed into the door of the cage, getting the 'Meowth' right in the face. It fell over on it's back in pain with Bomber darting out of the cage.

With little time to spare, he flew in the direction of the 'cowboy' and Emie, who was shaking even more now with her eyes closed. Of course, the cowboy had unzipped his pants and pulled out his dick, ready to rape Emie like he wanted. Bomber didn't have much time to think about his decision, even if he knew he was going to regret it.

Driving head first, Bomber rammed his beak against the Gastly's penis, completely tearing it off. He swooped up and perched himself on a support arch for the attic, seeing that the Gastly pretending to be the cowboy was on his knees in horrific pain. He let out a swear with Emie opening her eyes, seeing him on the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled, turning back into his Gastly form. "My dick!"

The private part that Bomber had torn off was still pierced on his beak, disappearing to a mist. He shuttered with disgust.

"That is definitely the gayest thing I've ever done in my entire life." Bomber told the Gastly, spitting onto the floor. "But I'd do it again if I had to!" He puffed out his feather, trying to look intimidating. He reached up for the goggles attached to his aviator hat and lowered them over his eyes. "You've messed with the wrong Pidgey!"

The Gastly who pretended to be a Meowth, shook his head, turning back into it's original form.

"That little piece of shit!" it said rubbing his face. The other Gastly was still holding it's crotch in pain. Emie was so confused, still covering her naked self.

Bomber hopped off the arch and dive bombed right into the Gastly still holding it's privates (what was left of them anyway) and head butting him full force. The Gastly stumbled backwards and hit his head against he wall next to Emie, falling on his backside in a daze.

The other Gastly charged at Bomber, only to be pecked in the eye. It let out a howl of pain, stumbling backwards into the birdcage that Bomber had originally been in. Following through with his attack, Bomber flapped his wings even harder, creating a gust of air that seemingly came from nowhere. The gust shot at the Gastly, with the burst of wind making him hit his head on the cage.

With the laws of physics set in motion, the cage swung back from the hit, soon to come back for round two, bashing into the back of the Gastly's head again. The Gastly fell forward on it's face with the other Gastly who had previously been impersonating Mikhail charging for Bomber.

As swift as lightning, Bomber flew out of the way. The Gastly swung it's arms at him again, missing completely. Bomber pecked at his face with the Gastly cursing, swatting at Bomber. Once again, he missed as Bomber flew around him.

"I might be small," Bomber told him from behind. "but I'm faster than the two of you combined!"

Getting some speed, he flew directly into the back of it's head with a power hit. The Gastly fell forward onto it's face, unable to move. He laid there on the floor with his body slowly turning to mist.

"Impossible..." he muttered as he began to disappear. "A Pidgey beat...me?..."

He faded away with Emie still shaking in the corner, stark naked. She no longer covered herself, staring at Bomber and the last remaining Gastly that stood up from the floor. He looked at where his Gastly partner had been, enraged that he had faded away. Bomber watched him motion his hands, somehow managing to spawn a stick in his hand that had damp cloth on the end of it. Cocking his head, Bomber snickered at him as he flapped his wings to fly in place.

"Oh, a stick..." Bomber said cockily. "I'm _so_ afraid of you."

The Gastly lowered the stick towards one of the candles in the room, lighting the cloth on fire. Bomber wasn't as cocky as before, lowered his head a little as he flapped.

"That's..._slightly_ more intimidating," Bomber admitted, "but that's not going to stop me."

"We'll see about that." The Gastly said pulling his arm back. He swung the stick at Bomber with and unnatural chain of fire leaping towards him. Bomber watched as it hurdled towards him, only with one option.

He began to flap his wings as hard as he could with the fire in front of him only growing in size, but instead of coming at him, it went back to the Gastly. Fire engulfed the Gastly as it flailed around. Emie watched in awe as it turned to mist, taking the fire and the stick with it. Bomber flapped down the floor with a pant, relieved to know that he lived to die another day.

Bomber turned, blushing behind his feathers when he saw Emie naked, finally having time to get a full look at her. A large smile grew on her face as excitement overcame her. Pushing the goggles buck up on his aviator cap, Bomber forced himself to look away in respect for Emie's privacy.

"Are you okay, Emie?" he asked her. He was caught off guard when she ran over to him, scooping him up from the floor. She embraced him with the side of his face being pressed against her bare breasts. They were really soft...

"Birdy saved Emie!" Emie cried with excitement. "Birdy is the best birdy ever! Can Emie repay Birdy somehow?"

Her hug around Bomber unintentional tightened with him letting out a coo of satisfaction.

"A good deed is it's own reward, I suppose." he told light hearted, still with her breasts pushing up against the side of his face. It was more than he could have asked for honestly, not daring show any sign of struggle in fear she'd stop.

A door appeared from nowhere with it opening. Rachel, Laurence, and Otto stepped inside. Emie saw all of them, still holding onto Bomber.

"Rachel!" she said happily. "Otto!"

She saw Laurence and remembered the piece of paper they had all found. She hugged onto Bomber even tighter with him letting out a stupid laugh of enjoyment.

"Scary man?..." she said confused. Rachel was too surprised to see Emie naked, let alone with Bomber pressed up against her boobs. Otto instantly snapped out of his 'I-killed-my-mom' trance, realizing that Emie was bare ass naked. His mouth dropped slightly, with him staring at her hips. Laurence was the only one who was more confused than surprised.

"I'm not as scary as you might think." Laurence told her, glaceing at her naked body. "You seem to be rather fond of the Pidgey you're smothering with your well developed breasts. Might I ask why?"

Emie liked the sound of his voice. It made her feel smart just by listening to it. Her smile returned with her tooth sticking out like it always did when she was excited.

"Birdy saved Emie!" she told him. "There were two weird people that wanted to be icky to Emie and Birdy, but Birdy saved Emie from the weird people!"

"Weird people, you say?" Laurence said surprised. "I feel compelled to introduce myself properly to a Pidgey with the skill to take down two Gastlys, but I see he's preoccupied at the moment."

Bomber rubbed the side of his head against her breast, clearly enjoying himself. Emie giggled when he bumped into her nipple.

"That tickles!" she giggled innocently. Otto had to look away. Seeing Emie naked made it impossible to think. Rachel shook her head in disbelief.

"You dirty little kitty cat." Rachel snickered. "Where are your clothes?"

Laurence looked around the room, frowning to see that there were still people missing.

"It seems we've yet to find your friend in the hat and the Growlithe." he told her. "We best press onward before it's too late."

Emie dropped Bomber on accident when she remembered Matt and Sissy had been taken as well, not intending on dropping poor Bomber in his state of euphoria.

"Matt and Sissy are still missing?!" Emie said panicked. Otto blushed, glancing at her naked self once again. She was so shameless about her body it was almost sad. Bomber got up from the floor with a sigh.

"All good things must come to an end..." he told himself saddened.

And with that, the search continued.


	30. Chapter 30

_**Chapter 30**_

The Haunter that had entered Matt's mind began to go through his thoughts. He could feel how she felt and vice versa. At first there was silence, soon with the Haunter speaking.

"_I'm so sorry..._" she told him, except she didn't actually _say_ it. She was communicating within, hearing what she said inside him. The pain of the nails in his hands and the smashing of his face and knee made him a little unsure what to think. Could he attempt to talk back to her by thinking. As ridiculous as it sounded, it was worth a shot.

"_Why are you sorry for what you have to do?"_ Matt thought back to her candidly. There was a silent pause within his mind as he sat there, nailed by the hands into the chair. After some time, she spoke back to him with a weak sounding echo in his head.

"_You're not mad at me?"_ she asked him sounding even sadder. _"Even though my goal is to kill you and take your energy?"_

Matt felt another tear run down his cheek.

"_I'm mad at myself,"_ he told her. "_not you._"

Again, silence.

"_I don't understand."_ she told him. "_I'm going to kill you and you're going to chose to be mad at yourself for it?"_

Matt nodded his head, as if she would know that he was doing so.

"_Yeah,"_ he laughed within his own head. "_I guess I am. I must sound pretty pathetic."_

"_You don't sound pathetic..."_ she spoke back to him. "_You sound hurt..."_

"_And why wouldn't I be?"_ he once again laughed in his head. _"My hands got nailed to a wooden seat. Shit, it might not be crucifixion, but you might as well call me Jesus on a chair."_

Matt thought to himself, feeling disappointed with himself. He remembered all of the shit he'd gone through, now to just die in vain.

_"I let everybody I cared about down."_ Matt thought to himself with the Haunter listening. _"My worst fear finally came to life I guess. Being completely helpless when those I cared about need help._"

Out of nowhere, the Haunter was bombarded with thoughts and memories meshed together, creating a montage of feelings and emotions.

She saw Matt's horrific past, him being burnt, stabbed, and shot. She also saw how horrible his life had been and that he came from a place where there were no Pokemon, and perhaps even people that really cared about him in the exception of two people: the girl in the black shirt and the guy in glasses.

The Haunter saw Matt finding himself in the Pokemon Universe, meeting Sissy, almost getting killed by her on that first day he was there. Never had she seen and felt such uncertainty in her life. The person he had called Sissy treated him so coldly, yet, for some reason, he cared about her.

The image of a half naked Meowth hugging Matt made the Haunter feel warm inside as well as aroused. She was so goofy and silly that Matt had loved her for being herself, even when she wasn't the brightest. The adorableness of her cuddled next to him after they had just met made it an even more emotional experience for the Haunter.

Then the came the Raticate. He was fearsome, bold, and strong. Everything about him was tough, yet Matt was fearless when it came to protecting both Emie and Sissy. The dramatic moments of the battle was breath taking, almost unbelievable how close they had gotten themselves killed. Not only had Matt risked his life to save Sissy, but he carried her all the way to the Pokemon center in town.

Viridian was no mere quick stop either. Matt had done so much in so little time. He'd fought Jimmy, his self proclaimed rival who had a vengeance out for Matt after he had been beaten. He'd made love to Emie, being romantic and heart warming. They'd gone out to eat, Sissy had grown jealous, and shit really hit the fan when his friend in the black shirt, whom Matt referred to as Rachel, came to the same universe to help him. Not only that, but Matt had gotten himself into one of the most deadliest fights of his life with Gavin. In the end, he was doing it all for Sissy.

Sissy and Matt had grown so close. They made love two days after Matt had been unconscious from his fight. Everything about it was beautiful. It was almost amusing how shy and inexperienced the Growlithe was when it came to sex. Matt treated her with care, making sure he didn't get to complicated with things. Simplicity proved to be a wise choice for a virgin like Sissy. Anything else might have done her in. The imagine of them lying there on the same bed was so heartwarming that the Haunter could hardly bare such a sight. Matt kissed her and held her close.

All of this had made the Haunter become emotional. There was one thing that got to her the most however.

_ "My love for you is eternal."_ The Haunter saw Matt say to Sissy._"It burns brighter and stronger for you more than any fire conceivable. You're the reason that gives my life purpose and meaning; a flame that keeps me alive. You're my flame of life, Sissy, and nothing will ever change that."_

Tears ran down Matt's face that weren't his. The Haunter was crying within him was making him do it.

_"You've been through so much..."_ she thought to him. _"I can't do this to you..."_

Matt stared chuckling to himself. He knew that she had seen everything that he had seen and felt what he had felt. His next thought was read perfectly loud and clear, being the most shocking.

"_I'm not done yet."_ Matt thought to her. He shut his eyes closed, thinking deeply to himself and drawing as much inner strength as he could. The Haunter within him couldn't believe what she was feeling. He was still willing to keep going, even with his hands nailed to a chair? After he had been beaten with a hammer?

"_What are you thinking?!"_ she asked him terrified. "_You can't be serious!"_

Matt opened his eyes with a smile on his face.

"_I've never been more serious in my life_." he thought back to her. Summoning the little energy he had left, he began to pull up on his hands, feeling the pain of the nails pushing back. He's body trembled as he clenched his teeth together. His muscles strained with his body being overcome with pain, yet he refused to quit. Nothing was going to stop him from getting out of that chair.

He put his feet on the ground, using them to push with his hands as the pain intensified. The crippling pain in his knee wasn't enough to stop him either. Letting rage motivate him, he kept pulling upwards. For a split second, he saw Sissy in his mind.

Blood spurted from his hands as he finally pulled them through the nails. Some of the flesh from his hands had been lost to the chair, now with standing with blood covering his palms and running down his raised hands. Matt let out a loud yell before falling on the floor face first. Coughing proved to be more painful than he thought it would have been. The Haunter thought he was done, but sure enough, Matt's inner drive kept him going.

Placing both hands in front of him as he lay there, he pulled with all of his might, dragging his limp body forward. The Haunter left his body, appearing beside him as he continued to drag himself. He stopped for a moment, looking at her. To his surprise, she was crying.

"Please," she begged him audibly, "you're going to kill yourself!"

Matt once again pulled himself forward once again with the Haunter following him on her knees. A flame burned in his eye, refusing to quit.

"I don't care if I end up killing myself." he told her painfully. "I'd rather die before they hurt my friends."

Once again, he pulled himself forward, leaving another bloody hand print on the floor. The Haunter couldn't help but cry. She had never seen so much pain in a human before, even considering her previous life. Matt's arms finally gave way with him laying with his face in her direction. He let out a painful sigh followed by a chuckle.

"I didn't realize it'd be this hard." he laughed. The Haunter looked at him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Matt smirked at her. "I'm not done yet." he told her. "Just...resting for a second."

The Haunter had tears running down her face. Matt never thought he'd see a ghost cry, of if it were even possible. Matt finally couldn't help but ask what was on his mind.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her. "I mean nothing to you. Just another meat bag to be harvested, aren't I?"

The Haunter shook her head with her hair motioning with her.

"You're not!" she cried emotionally. "You're the strongest human I've ever met in my entire life! Even when I was alive I never met anyone that cared about his friends like you do..."

She lowered her head with another tear falling onto the floor beside Matt.

"Why does it matter to you so much that I'm a caring person?" Matt asked her curiously. "To be honest being caring becomes a disadvantage. You saw my life, you should have realized that."

The Haunter looked like she were hurt by his words, shaking her head side to side.

"But you never saw _my_ life!" she yelled at him. "I never had anyone care for me when I was still a human! Nobody cared about what happened to me!" she stopped, looking away from him. "Or even what I did..."

Matt was silent as he watched her start to cry again.

"You're the only person I've seen who knows what it's like to have gone through what _I've_ gone through." she told him honestly, still with tears in her eyes.

"And what have you gone through?" Matt asked her synthetically. She looked at him unsure how to react, actually even more sad than before.

"You were about to be harvested by me, yet you still care about what _I've_ gone through?" she asked him. She shook her head with another wave a tears forming. "You're horribly good natured..."

"Everyone has their crosses to bare." Matt joked. "Mine just so happen to be a nice person and get nailed to chairs."

She looked at him with a weak smile.

"How can you joke like that when you've just been through so much pain?" she asked him with another tear rolling down her face, passing the faint smile she had on her face. Matt put his hands in front of him once again.

"It ain't over yet." he told her, pulling himself forward once again. "I still gotta find my friends."

The Haunter put her hand on his arm.

"You're not gonna get very far without some help." she told him. Turning transparent, she entered his body. Matt laid there with the feeling of the pain being cut in half. "_I'm going to help you with the pain. Jeez, this is only half of what you've been dealing with? You're stronger than you look._"

Matt was still in a world of pain, but managed to get on his feet.

"_Why are you helping me?"_ he thought to her, stumbling forward towards the wall the Jasper had previously left out of. "_I can't see how this would benefit you. Not to mention it's going to get your friends pissed at you."_

The pain the Haunter had to bare with made her reply delayed, but soon enough laughed inside his head.

"_They're far from friends of mine."_ she explained. _"I'm fairly young as a Haunter and needed their help to survive. That's about it._"

Matt limped forward towards the wall with him feeling the Haunter helping him fight back the pain.

_"You still never answered my question."_ he thought back to her. _"Why are you helping me do all of this? You don't have to."_

Matt placed his hands on the wall and panted from the energy it took to get that far.

_"Considering you don't understand Gastlys, Haunters, and Gengars on the account of being from a different universe, which is still a hard concept to grasp mind you, we spirit Pokemon are the damned of human spirits, put back on this earth for a chance of redemption. The worse you were in your former the higher on the scale you are from Gastly to Gengar. It's a little complicated, and seeing we're not exactly well supplied on time, I'll have to summarize by saying that I think you're a good way for me to find my redemption for what I've done. Also, for some reason I actually find you attractive._"

_"And why might that be so weird?"_ Matt asked feeling his ego a little damaged. The Haunter had felt that as well.

_"You misunderstand me."_ she clarified. _"I don't mean that as in you're ugly and it's hard for people to find you attractive, rather...well, I'm homosexual..._"

Matt chuckled to himself with blood running down the wall he had his hands on.

_"I guess that is a bit odd considering the factors."_ Matt laughed inside his mind. "_You gotta name? I'd hate to have to refer to you as 'the gay ghost_.'"

"_Call me Shade."_ she thought to him. Matt felt her doing something inside his body. A purple light shined on his hands, making a door appear in front of Matt. _"Let's go save your friends, Matt."_

For a moment, Matt was shocked that she knew his name. It didn't take him long to realize that she had been exploring through his mind all that time. His name wasn't most likely the first thing she learned about him. He smiled, putting his hand on the doorknob to open it.

_"Thank you, Shade."_ he thought back to her, entering inside to the next room. 

Sissy found herself in an open field. Everything was dark with the moonlight being the only source of light. She had been wandering for a while now, completely lost and alone, wondering where she was. She still had her bokuto close by her side, unsure as to what she was to expect. A breeze blew past her, making Sissy shiver. The sound of footsteps behind her made Sissy turn her head.

There was nothing there.

She turned to face forward, falling backwards when she saw him.

Standing before her was a little boy with blood on his face. He was young, appearing to be the age of 9, which was the last time Sissy had saw _him_ alive. He wore clothes that were torn with gashes exposed on his arms and bare feet. With a tear running down her face, Sissy stared at Mom's dead son.

"Hi Sissy..." he saw with a frown and sad eyes. Sissy's body started shaking as she scrambled to her feet. She drew her bokuto, knowing that it couldn't be him. Taking a fighting stance, the little boy grew even sadder. Another tear ran down Sissy's face.

"What is this?!" Sissy demanded. "Some sick joke?! Who are you!"

"Don't you remember me?..." he asked her. "We used to play with each other. You and I lived with mommy. You were my best friend..."

Sissy's grip on her bokuto tightened, now visibly shaking. Her toes contracted, feeling the damp grass on her bare feet as she stood her ground. There was no way this was real, she told herself. It was some sick joke, and when she found out who was behind it, they were going to pay. But the blood looked so real. And the child...it looked just like him.

"Who are you?!" asked again, now even more angrily. The boy frowned, telling her his name. Sissy's eyes dilated when he told her the name of her previous master.

"It's me..." he told her. "I'm a ghost..."

Sissy's bokuto was shaking with her emotions slowly beginning to get the better or her. Another tear rolled down her face, dampening her fur.

"How...how is this possible?..." Sissy asked less upset. "I don't understand..."

The young boy, reached for the blood on his face, smearing it a little.

"Why did you let them kill me?" he asked her.

Sissy's eyes widened with more tears streaming down her face.

She said nothing in response to the young child's inquiry. The boy shook his head at her.

"Don't you remember?" he asked once again. "You let them me kill me... and you just ran away."

Sissy's body was trembling so bad she couldn't hardly hold onto her bokuto. The young boy stepped closer to her as she froze in fear.

"They did really bad things to me." the young boy told her. "You ran away..."

Sissy dropped her bokuto, dropping to her knees, now about the boy's height. Her and him locked eyes, only a few feet away. Still with tears running down her face, Sissy lowered her head.

"I couldn't do anything..." she told him. "They would have killed me too if I didn't hide..."

"You let me die..." he told her sadly. Sissy couldn't help but to start full on crying as she knelt on the damp grass of the moon lit field.

"I couldn't do anything..." Sissy sobbed. "I swear, there was nothing I could do to stop them..."

The boy before her suddenly began to grin with Sissy glancing up at him. She gasped, grabbing for her bokuto as he began to change. Now with red eyes and skin black as night, he started laughing darkly with his height increasing. Standing before her was a Gastly with the most disturbing grin she had ever seen.  
"If you're so sorry then why don't you die for your selfishness?" it asked her. Sissy quickly got to her feet with her bokuto in both hands, ready to strike.

"You disgusting creature!" She yelled. "What have you done with my friends and I!"

The Gastly extended his arms out, with a laugh.

"Welcome to your own personal hell, mutt!" it giggled. "You're friends by now are all as good as dead."

Sissy glared at it, raising her bokuto in the air. The Gastly laughed at her as if she were joking. She swung, slashing it across the chest. As if stunned by the how painful it felt, the Gastly stared at her as it fell on it's knees, forcing itself to continue to smile.

"I heard your beloved trainer got nailed to a chair." he chuckled with a wheeze in between. "Jasper most likely killed that piece of shit by now."

Sissy grew angry, impaling the Gastly with her bokuto. The wooden sword was driven through it's throat as it knelt before her. With an expression of surprise in it's final moments, the Gastly began to fade away, turning to a black mist.

The sound of clapping behind Sissy made her quickly turn, still with her bokuto in hand. In the distance was a dark figure identical to the one she had killed. Behind it was a small army of other dark figures, so many in fact she couldn't count them all. She watched at the one clapping stepped forward.

"Well now, aren't you the strong one." he mocked. "That's better than what I could say about your friends. By now they're dead, just like you'll be in a few seconds."

Sissy stood in her fighting stance, feeling rage start to get the better of her.

"You're a liar!" she told him. "You're the one who'll be dead in a few seconds." Jasper, the one who had previously been clapping, turned to his small army of other Gastlys.

"Can you believe this Growlithe?" he asked him with a laugh. "She honestly thinks she can take all of us on by herself."

Sissy grew unsure of her ability, soon hearing multiple footsteps behind her.

"She just might," a male voice said. "though, perhaps a little help would be useful."

She turned, seeing a man in a suit. With him were Rachel, Otto, Bomber, and Emie. Rachel was saying close to Laurence for protection with Otto doing the same, however, kept some distance. Although Laurence had proved to be more than useful, he still slightly scared Otto. Bomber was perched on Emie's shoulder, with Emie taking up a karate-like stance.

"Emie is not scared of the st_ooo_pid meanies!" Emie yelled out to them, even though they were clearly outnumbered. Bomber on the other hand didn't share her optimism. He seemed a little intimidated by the sheer numbers, trying his best to count them all. Jasper shook his head at them all, as it this were some sort of joke. He knew Laurence was strong, but it would unthinkable for him along with a small group like _that_ could stop him and his army of Gastlys.

"You don't know when to quit, do you Laurence?" Jasper snickered. With his hands in his pockets, Laurence gave a slight nod of his head with a squinted smile.

"I'm afraid not, Jasper." he told him surprisingly hospitable. "It just goes to show that some forces are meant to face each other, not matter how much you prolong the conflict."

"And when did you realize this?" Jasper asked cockily. "When you were burning children and raping women?"

Rachel got a nervous feeling in her gut with Laurence frowning back at Jasper.

"Now, now," Laurence said slightly shaking his head. "you know damn well I never raped woman."

Rachel was expecting him to finish his sentence, soon feeling unsure of the situation when she realized he was done speaking. Otto glanced at Laurence, seeing that he was perfectly serious. With a loud and obnoxious laugh, Jasper threw his head back.

"That's right." Jasper said jokingly. "You were far too much of a gentleman to rape woman."

Laurence's hospitable side returned with him opening his mouth, though stopped himself before speaking. With Jasper's words still rattling in his mind, he blinked unsure.

"I'm sensing that was sarcasm?" Laurence asked him. Jasper rolled his eyes, not giving him an answers. Nonetheless, he put the pieces together, realizing that he indeed was mocking him.

"You're a real thorn in the side, Laurence." Jasper said crossing his arms. "You took all my meat bags and freed them. It's a shame you couldn't have saved them all."

Laurence looked around, realizing that the male with the hat wasn't with Sissy. He frowned, realizing that Jasper was right. He hadn't found them all.

"Looks like you'll need to use larger nails next time." A voice said in the distance. Everyone turned, seeing Matt limping his way towards them. Coming closer to them, Jasper was legitimately surprised to see him. Sissy saw how badly Matt was injured, noting that he had blood on both hands and a bruise on the side of his face. By the way he was limping it was clear something had been done to his leg also.

"Matt!" Sissy cried, running towards him. She embraced him with Emie and Bomber rushing over to him as well. With a group hug forming, Emie joined in with Bomber perching on Matt's shoulder. Laurence, Otto, and Rachel stood still with smiles on all of their faces to see that Matt was okay. Jasper on the other hand wasn't so pleased.

"Impossible!" Jasper cried. "You should be harvested by now!"

Sissy and Emie let go with Matt raising both of his hands. They both were mortified to find that holes were in them. With a cocky smile, he held them in the direction of Jasper.

"I guess nailing me to a chair wasn't enough to keep me down." he laughed. "But I guess the only reason I got this far is thanks to your Haunter friend."

Jasper looked furious, with both him and Laurence staring at Matt. Both of them realized that Matt had another spirit in him. Suddenly, Matt's eyes turned red with his expression changing from cocky to angry.

"I couldn't do it, Jasper!" Shade said through Matt with his voice sounding feminine. "I'd rather fade away than do your bidding!"

Everyone in the exception of Laurence and Jasper were freaked out by this, looking at each other for some sort of explanation, still with Matt's eye's red.

"Did I just hear Matt talking like a woman?" Sissy ask everyone. Emie nodded.

"Emie thinks Matt sounds like a girly..." she giggled, completely forgetting the conflict at hand for a moment. Shade, still using Matt's body, winked at Emie. Soon after, Matt's eyes returned to their naturally deep blue. He shook his head to focus his eyes better.

"That was freaking weird..." he said aloud.

"Shade!" Jasper yelled. "You're betraying your own kind for a good for nothing human?!"

Matt's eyes turned a light red again, facing Jasper with a finger pointing at him.

"Don't act like you're better than me!" Shade yelled thought Matt. "You have no idea what it's like to suffer like I have! If anyone is betraying who, it's you Jasper! You're only doing this for your own personal gain while you have your 'loyal followers' doing your bidding, obeying your every command like your word is law! Well I'm not dammit! You might have turned your back on your second chance for redemption, but I haven't!"

Once again, everyone stared at Matt at a complete loss. Emie looked up at Bomber, who was still resting on Matt's shoulder.

"Is Matt a girly now?..." she asked him unsure. Bomber cocked his head, looking at Matt.

"If he is, I'd sure hate to meet his twin sister." Bomber joked.

Jasper turned to his army with clenched fists.

"It's time we punish them all!" he yelled. "Let's show these fools what power really is!"

All of the Gastlys raised their hands with a roar. Laurence cracked his neck, stepping forward with Matt and his Pokemon doing the same. Otto and Rachel stood back away from everyone, knowing that getting involved was only going to get themselves hurt. Jasper turned to face Laurence, Matt, and his Pokemon. He smiled, raising his arms to the sides with the earth shaking.

"I say we set the mood with a little hell and damnation..." he said darkly.

The earth rumbled with everyone almost falling off balance in the exception of Laurence, who still had his hands in his pockets. With a sigh, pulled out his right hand and reached inside his jacket, pulling out a small package of cigarettes. As the grass turned to dry and hard rock, he pulled one out, placing it between his lips and returning his package of cigarettes pack in his jacket pocket.

With the rock appearing, Lava began to surround them. They were now on a rock island surrounded by a lake of fire. The moon overhead turned a maroon color, resembling that of blood. Otto and Rachel panicked, realizing that they were now standing out on a small part of rock with lava and fire surrounding them. They weren't in danger, however, definitely stranded from everyone else

Sissy grew unsure of the flame's with Emie drawing near Matt. Bomber's goggles began to fog up from the heat with him letting out a pant.

"Now I'm thankful I was a Pidgey and not a chicken for rotisserie." he once again joked, trying to lighten the mood of such a serious situation. Laurence casually stepped over to a lake of lava, taking the cigarette from his lips and lowering it near the liquid flame. It lit with Laurence putting the cigarette back between his lips. He took a drag and exhaled the smoke out his nose.

"I can't say this is what I would have picked for our showdown," he admitted, "but I suppose I'll have to get used to it."

Matt felt Shade becoming restless inside him.

"_Damn!_" She swore within his head. "_I forgot what it was like to be so sensitive to heat! You sure you can handle all of this, boss?"_

Matt chuckled when she called him 'boss'. Everyone just assumed he was being cocky about everything like he normally was when he had the odds staked against him.

"_Only if you can."_ he thought back to her. _"You think you could help out with the fight?"_

_ "Wait, are you sure you can even stand by yourself? As much as I'd like to not feel the pain of having holes in your hands and having your knee bashed in I don't wanna just leave you high and dry."_

Once again, Matt laughed, now with Emie frowning at Matt. How could he laugh at a time like this? They were in a wannabe hell, not a fun house.

"Why is Matt laughing?" Emie asked him with a worried frown. Sissy too was wondering what was up with Matt. First speaking like a woman, now this? Had he simply gone off the deep end after all the punishment he'd been through?

_"I'll manage,"_ he thought back to Shade. _"but right now my Pokemon are gonna need some help, that is if you think you're able to."_

Laughter was heard inside his mind.

_"I've got this."_ she told him confidently. Emie let out a scream when she saw a spirit come out of Matt's body. Sissy and Bomber also freaked out, seeing a Haunter in a large tee shirt. She stood in front of Matt, who fell down on his knee and swore as he began to take on all the pain by himself again.

"Damn, this hurts..." he mumbled. He looked up, seeing Shade's butt right in front of face. She turned her head and giggled, tugging on her large tee shirt.

"Pervert." she said with a playful wink. Matt rolled his eyes, seeing that Emie, Bomber, and Sissy were all definitely confused.

"Don't flatter yourself." he told her. "Besides, didn't you say your were gay?"

She frowned at him playfully.

"That doesn't mean it's not enjoyable to have guys staring at you." She told him, sticking out her tongue and winking her eye again. Bomber blinked, shaking his head and closing his eyes for a moment.

"Matt," he said perched on his shoulder still (also in view range of Shade's butt) "would you mind explaining why the hell you just had a Haunter come out of you?"

"Now might not be the best time." Matt told him with the Gasltys in the distance of the rock island letting out another war cry.

Bomber caught himself staring at her butt too with Shade giggling.

"You're a pervert too, huh?" she asked him. Bomber was slightly flustered, turning his head away in a different direction, still with Jasper and the Gastlys standing in the distance.

"Says the stranger who has their butt near my beak..." he came back. Sissy and Emie blinked, feeling a little jealous suddenly. Not to mention perplexed from seeing Shade exit him.

"I hate to interrupt your butt staring," Laurence said with Gastlys now running towards them. "but I believe it would be in our best interest to act while we still can."

Laurence took another drag of his cigarette with Matt nodding. He stood on his feet again, feeling his knees wobble a little.

"You all ready?" he asked as the Gastlys continued to charge at them.

"Emie is ready to fight the st_ooo_pid meanies!" Emie yelled like a war cry.

"I think a little payback is in order for putting me a freakin' bird cage." Bomber said lowering his goggles down over his eyes, wiping away the steam from them with his wing feathers.

"Nobody mocks my pain." Sissy said with her bokuto in both hands. Shade cracked her knuckles (being strange on the account that she was a ghost Pokemon).

"Count me in on the ass kicking." she told him with a smirk. Matt smiled, pointing at the Gastlys.

"Let's do this!" he hollered. "Attack!"


	31. Chapter 31

_**Chapter 31**_

Sissy, Emie, Bomber, and Shade all charged head on as the small group faced against the large army of Gastlys. Matt felt light headed, but forced himself to stay focused. Laurence, still with a cigarette in his mouth, began to motion his hands.

"Stay in groups!" Matt ordered. "You'll stand a better chance that way!"

Sissy and Emie ran side by side with Bomber flying in the air. To his surprise, Matt saw that Shade flew by his side. Well, she _was_ a ghost so it made sense that she could fly, he supposed.

Sissy slashed her bokuto into the first Gastly that came in her path, slaughtering it with a single blow. She swung at another, slicing it across the chest. As a finisher, Emie did a flip in the air over Sissy, coming down at the Gastly with a downward kick. The horde of Gastlys came at the two of them at once, completely surrounding them.

"Get back to back!" Matt ordered. "Don't give them any opportunity for an attack!"

They did as they were told, getting back to back with one another as the Gastly's stood around them with large grins, each waiting for an opening for an attack as the girls stood their ground. Bomber and Shade were flying overhead, planning an attack.

"Shit," Sissy swore, "there's gotta be a least two hundred of these Gastlys. Maybe more?"

"Emie isn't sure..." she responded as a few Gastlys rushed at them in all directions. "Emie can't count that high..."

Laurence exhaled cigarette smoke from his nose, continuing his hand motions. With a quick motion upwards with his arms, some of the Gastlys surrounding Emie and Sissy started convulsing as if they were suffering from seizures. During this, Shade and Bomber did a nose dive at the horde.

"Don't hold back!" Matt told him. "Give it everything you've got!"

A surge of power overcame Bomber as he rammed into some of them, sending them flying through the air. Shade on the other hand grabbed onto one of them as she flew, gripping it by the head and snapping it's neck. The Gastlys that Bomber had sent flying landed in the lava that surrounded that rock circle they were fighting on, lighting them in flames as the fire consumed them.

The Gastlys Laurence was making convulse began to start dropping like flies, killing off over a few dozen of them as they exploded into dark mist. Matt watched as Laurence continued his hand gestures, causally smoking his cigarette. Who was this guy?!

Still on the other small rock formation away from the action, Rachel and Otto watched nervously. From where they were standing they couldn't see how Sissy and Emie were handling themselves, but they could clearly see Bomber dive bombing all of the Gastlys again, sending more flying like they were weightless. The display was so impressive that Rachel was in awe of it.

"That bird's got skill." she said impressed. Otto nodded, watching as Bomber slammed into a few more.

"For such a little guy he's got a lot of fight in him." Otto commented. "With all of them fighting together like that the Gastlys aren't going to stand a chance."

"Please don't jinx it." Rachel told him. "Besides, I'm still wondering how the hell we're supposed to get off this thing."

The lava surrounding them bubbled with a bloop.

Matt was still ordering his Pokemon, telling them what to do with Shade and Laurence doing their best to help. For the most part Laurence stayed away from the fighting area, but was busy making hand signs that were definitely having dire effects on the Gastlys.

Sissy impaled her Bokuto into another, slashing the wood blade out of the Gastly and directly into another that was beside it. She kicked the other Gastly off her bokuto, letting it fall to the dry rock, shortly turning to mist afterword. Another Gastly threw itself at her, grappling onto her shoulders.

"Headbutt it!" Matt told her. Unable to really hesitate, Sissy bashed her skull against it's head, forcing it to let go as well as gaining a terrible headache.

Emie was going to town, clawing faces, biting necks, and even kicking some of them in the groin. A Gastly charged at her, only to have it's neck sliced open by a powerful claw-like swipe of her hand. Emie followed up with her attack by doing a back flip kick, completely kicking off it's head with a black spray shooting up from it's neck.

Bomber once again dive bombed into another Gastly, however this time had smashed it onto the ground. With violent pecking, he began to stab at it's face with blackness getting all over his beak. Shade joined in on his assault, flying down with her fist pulled back. The Gastly she was aiming for had only a half second to notice she was coming right at her. Shade had a smile on her face with her hand in a fist.

"Smile!" she laughed, bashing her fist right into it's face. Shade had hit it so hard that her fist left an imprint. Before it had time to recover she unleashed a hail of punches while grinning.

The Gastlys began to pull back with Jasper, who had been watching them the entire time baring his teeth.

"Dammit!" he yelled. "We need to be stronger!"

The Gastly's started running away, but Sissy had grabbed onto one of them from behind as it attempted to flee, impaling it through the back with her wooden sword. In her rage, she lifted it in the air while it still was on her bokuto. The expression of pain on the Gaslty's face intensified as she twisted the wooden blade he was raised from.

"Feel my pain, you son of a bitch..." she muttered, cutting out of him with a spray of blackness splattering on the dry rock below her with some of it getting on her feet. The Gastly turned to mist as Emie now stood beside her with Bomber and Shade joining the two of them. They stood proudly in formation as the Gastly's ran to Jasper.

"You're pathetic!" Matt yelled to Jasper. "Even with all of your minions you're nothing!"

"Maybe not alone," Jasper yelled back as the Gastly's began to get in large groups. "but together we're unstoppable!"

Matt watched as the Gastlys began to form together, creating new forms. Jasper stood there with his evil grin as the small army of Gastlys turned into three very tall giant ones. As if that weren't frightening enough, they began to change forms, growing large curled horns and black hooves. A darkness radiated from them, all smiling with Jasper. Laurence took the butt off his cigarette and flicked it on the ground, adjusting his tie a little.

"I think it's time you and I finished this once and for all, Jasper," Laurence said to him. Jasper nodded, throwing his arm out in the direction of Matt and his Pokemon.

"Kill them while I deal with Laurence." Jasper ordered. They gladly agreed, running forward.

Matt felt himself giving way, falling down on one knee. From the mixture of blood loss from his hands and at a 1.5 point count, he felt himself about to black out. Being suborn, he refused to give in to the pain.

"Split up!" Matt ordered. Sissy stood her ground with Emie running the left along with Shade and Bomber flying to the right. Laurence motioned his hands, disappearing in thin are. Rachel and Otto, who were still watching from the small part of land they were on surrounded by the lava, blinking as if they had missed something.

"Where the hell did he go?!" Otto asked Rachel.

She punched him in the side with her left hand, not even looking at him as he held his ribs in pain.

"Quit asking stupid questions!" she demanded. "I'm just as lost as you are!"

Suddenly appearing in front of Jasper, Laurence was in view again. The two of them began to fistfight with Jasper only dodging the attacks and not even attempting to go on the offensive. At least not yet anyway.

The large Gastly beast that charged at Sissy was lusting for blood with his hands extended out towards her as he ran. She held her ground still, feeling unsure about her ability. Matt could feel her uncertainty.

"You can do this Sissy!" Matt told her. "Show that horned little bitch what happens when people mess with my girl!"

Sissy's eyes widened with time feeling as if had slowed down a bit. Matt had called her...his girl? She watched the Beast charge at her, feeling so much confidence she wasn't even afraid anymore. Her grip around her bokuto tightened with her jumping into the air at the charging Gastly beast. She slashed at it, getting it right in the thigh. The beast however wasn't hardly effected by it, hitting her as she was still in the air. She was thrown backwards, landing on her back. With a quick roll, she was on her feet again as if nothing had happened.

Emie ran to the left still with the other Gastly beast charging at her doing the same. As swift as a dart, she changed her footing and ran towards it. Rachel and Otto were unable to keep their eyes on her, seeing her magically appear in one area, then the next. She was using her Quickness ability, making the Beast just as unsure as they were. The Gastly beast tried to grab her, but missed when she disappeared in front of it, soon appearing from behind.

"Go for that classic maneuver!" Matt shouted to her. Like clockwork with his command, she leapt in the air, climbing up it's body with her claws digging into it. After scaling the tall Gastly beast she grabbed onto it's neck with her teeth sinking into the back of it, still in her anrtho form. The Gastly beast tried to break free of her grapple, shaking side to side with Emie holding on tight. While doing so, she was biting her teeth into it's neck so hard that it was gushing out blackness. It tasted weird...

Bomber and Shade flew side by side, circling the third Gastly beast that had followed them. Both simultaneously swooped down to attack it, only to be swatted to the ground like bugs. Bomber hit the ground with a thud with only Shade being the one to stand up. Matt began to panic when Bomber didn't budge, still lying there as the Gastly beast let out a roar of a laugh.

"Bomber!" Matt cried out. "Get up!"

No response.

He just laid there motionlessly.

The Beast stomped towards him with Shade flying up at his face once again. Just like the last time, she was smacked out of the air, plummeting down to the ground with an oomph. The Gastly beast let out a deep laugh, raising it's foot above Bomber.

A rock was thrown at it, hitting the Gastly beast in the side of the head.

"Hey!" Matt screamed. "Nobody fucks with my Pidgey!"

Shade painfully pulled herself up from the ground for a second time as the Gastly beast moved it's foot from Bomber and began to stomp towards Matt. Hardly able to stand on his feet once again, Matt's knees wobbled as the large Gastly beast charged at him.

Sissy was still fighting with her Gastly beast, not even aware of what was going around her. She dodged once more, preforming a side step as the Gastly beast she was fighting smashed it's fist into the rock ground below her. In retaliation, she jumped onto it's arm and proceeded to run up it with her bokuto raised high. With another jump she swung her blade with a downward thrust.

Like a knife slicing through butter, It's thick, beefy left arm was chopped off. It landed on the ground and turned to mist with the Gastly beast letting out a shrill that sounded like multiple voices coming out from within it. She landed down on the rock ground with a roll to break her fall, soon having to jump out of the way again when the Gastly beast tried to stomp on her.

Emie was still biting onto the flailing Gastly beast she was fighting, clawing away at it's flesh with her nails. Finally grabbing a hold of her, it threw her down, kicking her across the ground as she skipped like a stone. She painfully tried to get back up, barely managing to stand on both legs with her arms hanging like noodles from her exhausted body.

The Gastly beast that charged at Matt was stopped by Shade who appeared in front of it with only a few feet before it pummeled him. She had a cocky grin on her face with Matt limping past the Gastly beast while it was distracted. Before she could do anything to it, the Gastly beast grabbed her and squeezed with all it's might. Even being a ghost Pokemon, Shade was in agony of the crushing pain she was being put through.

Matt tripped with his knee giving out of him, now only about a foot away from Bomber. He pulled himself with his hands to get to him, getting blood on the ground. Matt picked him up, putting his finger on the side of Bombers neck. Even in the chaos of the fight Matt was more worried about the well being of Bomber than his own. He felt a weak pulse, relived to know that Bomber was only uncontentious. Limp in his arms, Bomber's goggles appeared to have a crack on them, showing just how hard he had hit the ground head first.

They were losing badly, with Emie about to black out, Shade was being crushed mercilessly, and Sissy was barely able to hold her ground. Laurence was the only one who was doing more than fine, causally weaving out of the way of each time Jasper attacked.

"Damn it!" Jasper yelled. "Quit moving around and fight back, you-!"

A blow to his throat shut him up with Laurence smirking.

"As you wish." Laurence told him candidly. Jasper fell on his knees holding his throat in pain with Laurence glancing behind to see Matt and his Pokemon were in a dire situation. "You'll have to excuse me for a moment."

Like magic, Laurence vanished before everyone's eyes.

Emie stood weakly before one of the Gastly Beasts as it stormed over to her. Laurence suddenly appeared on it's shoulder, making the beast quickly turn it's head.

"It isn't very polite to fight with those who are smaller than you," Laurence told it, "nor is it very kind to do so with a woman."

The Gastly beast swat at it's shoulder with Laurence disappearing once more. Otto and Rachel were watching in awe.

"How the hell is he doing that?!" Otto said almost panicked.

Once again he was punched by Rachel.

"I already told you to stop asking me things I don't know!" she yelled at him. "Instead of wasting time just standing there gawking you could be doing something!"

"Like what?!" Otto wheezed in pain as he held his gut. Rachel frowned, throwing her hands into the boiling hot air.

"You're supposed to be a genius!"

"That doesn't mean I can magically walk on molten lava!" Otto yelled back.

Laurence reappeared on the Gastly beast's other shoulder, punching his fist into the side of it's head. It froze still as if stuck in time with Laurence casually hopping off and landing flat on his feet. The moment he did the Gastly beast burst into a purple flame that almost blinded Emie. She blinked her eyes in awe with Laurence smiling at her dumbfounded expression.

Matt was still holding Bomber, determined to keep him safe, but still knew he had to keep fighting. Shade's eyes slowly began to roll back as she was being crushed to her second demise. Sissy was still fending off against the other Gastly beast, determined to keep going no matter what. Emie finally couldn't keep standing, falling to her rump with a groan.

"Emie's tired..." she said with her eyes half opened.

The Gastly beast finally let go of Shade, who fell down to the ground with a painful thud. She looked up, seeing the utter pain that it was in.

Also the hand that had been rammed into it's head.

Laurence hopped off the Gastly beast like before, landing perfectly on his feet as the Gastly beast literally exploded into a black mist. Laurence gladly extended his hand to her, however, Shade hesitated at first.

"I assure you that I'm not as much of a monster as you might think." he told her, already knowing that she had heard rumors about his past. She took his hand while the last Gastly beast, still missing it's arm, and Sissy faced off. Everyone's eyes were on them, even Jasper who was holding his throat in pain.

"You can do it, Sissy!" Matt cried out to her while holding Bomber in his arms. Sissy let out a calm breath as the last remaining Gaslty beast let out a roar. Laurence stood beside Shadow, rubbing his chin at the spectacle. Emie watched as she sat on the ground exhausted, smiling at Sissy.

"Sissy can do it!" She added as if to cheer her on.

Sissy dashed head on towards the beast, being about 5 times taller and larger than herself. With it's one arm, The Gastly beast swung it at her full force.

"Duck under it!" Matt said instinctively. Being in sync with her trainer, Sissy rolled under the arm that was swung low at her. She followed the momentum of the roll back onto her feet, slashing her bokuto into it's left leg. It let out a holler when she slashed once more, sending some blackness flying through the air.

Upset, the Gastly beast lifted it's leg she was attacking, attempting to stomp on her.

"Move back!" Matt told her. Sissy did just that, doing a hop out of the way with another slash of her bokuto into it's other leg. Sissy kept hacking away at the Gastly beast with all she had.

Emie painfully got up to her feet, pushing herself to start fighting again. She ran to help aid Sissy against her fight with the Gastly beast, running as fast as her legs could carry her. Her Quickness ability helped immensely.

Sissy slashed her bokuto with so much power that she hacked a piece of the Gastly beast's leg flesh off (if you'd call it that). Blackness seeped down it's leg with Emie jumping onto it's arm, dangling on it with her nails imbedded in it's skin.

Shade couldn't just stand by and do nothing either, deciding to join in on the fight. She flew at full speed in the direction of the Gastly beast, bashing her fist into it's eye. As Sissy busily hacked away at it's legs, Emie began to climb up it's arm as it lashed around madly in pain. Shade unleashed a fury of punches into it's large face, not holding back in the slightest..

Matt painfully grinned as Jasper watched angrily.

"Your Gastly's don't stand a chance against us!" He yelled.

Jasper watched as the last remaining Gastly beast wobbled painfully. Emie had finally made it up to it shoulder, jumping up and kicking it in the side of the head full force with her foot. A snapping noise was made, still with Shade unleashing her rain of unstoppable punches and Sissy hacking away at it like a lumberjack taking down a tree.

The Gastly beast let out a painful scream with disembodied voices being heard come out of it. Emie fell from the Gastly beast as it disappeared into a dark mist. Like the cat she was, she landed on her feet. Even so, she heard something pop, letting out a sad 'ow' of pain.

The mist faded away with Matt standing up proudly with Bomber in his hands. Sissy swung her bokuto with a smirk with Emie putting her hands on her sides with a smile. Shade even celebrated, doing a little spin as she made herself levitate about a foot off the ground.

"It seems you've lost Jasper." Laurence told him. Jasper smiled, raising his hand slowly in the air with his smile growing. He soon began to laugh demonically with his body begging to take drastic changes. His black skin turned into a milky gray with horns of his own growing from his head along with hooves of his feet. Standing seven feet tall now, he let out another fit of laughter.

"You think it's over so soon?" he asked them. "It's only getting started..."

The small part of land Rachel and Otto were standing on slowly began to crumble away with both of them quickly backing up to the middle of it. Laurence saw this, quickly taking action. In a blink of an eye, he had vanished from where he was stand and appeared on the small part of land Otto and Rachel were standing on.

He knelt down on the ground, putting his hand on the dry rock with his hand aglow. The crumbing stopped, still with Laurence holding his hand down to the ground to keep it from being consumed by the liquid flame. Jasper laughed, knowing that his plan had worked.

"It looks like you're stuck with them," Jasper told him as Laurence used his UMP to keep the formation from being swallowed by molten lava. "unless you feel like letting them fry."

Laurence frowned, realizing what he was doing.

"Using my morality to prevent me from stopping you?" Laurence inquired. "Very clever."

"I wouldn't so much as call it morality as I would stupidity." Jasper commented. "You chose to love humans so much, now you can prolong their horrid deaths by staying out there."

Matt held onto Bomber tight, feeling his legs wobbling from his pain and blood loss. Emie, Sissy, and Shade stood side by side with each other as Jasper smirking at them.

"I'll kill off everyone else first before I take care of you." Jasper told Laurence. Closing his eyes, Jasper radiated a black glow. With a vein popping on his forehead, large wings tore out from his back, stretching outward. Like a burst of lightning, he bolted forward at the three girls.

With Emie's natural quickness it was easy for her to move out of the way. Shade made herself transparent, being invulnerable momentarily. Sissy was the unlucky one, being rammed into at full force. Jasper had smashed into her with his head, sending her flying through the air. Sissy landed on her back with blood running from her nose.

Emie lunged at Jasper, missing barely as he stepped out of the way. As Emie was hurling past him, he raised his arm up, getting her right in the face. With the force of the blow being so strong, there was a crunching sound with her landing on the ground shortly after.

Shade swung her fist into the back of Jasper's head, feeling her knuckles crunch like a nutcracker would crack nuts. In pain, she waved her hand and spurted out profanity. Jasper didn't even bother to turn around, mule kicking her in the gut. She fell to her side in pain, coughing madly.

Both Emie and Sissy got back on their feet. The two of them had been covered in cuts and bruised from the fight so far, now having more from Jasper's hits. Taking a deep breath, Sissy quickly darted for Jasper once again, completely missing as he ducked backwards. The edge of her wooden blade swooped over his head. He sprung back up, punching her square in the face.

Matt watched in absolute disgust as Sissy limply hit the ground like a sack of rocks. Jasper only laughed with Matt's blood pumping, still holding Bomber with his bloody hands that had previously been nailed through. Emie and Shade were just as angry, coming at him at once.

Preforming an areal kick, Emie's foot was aimed for Jasper's face. Along with that Shade had pulled back her fist, ready to pound his head in. In a single motion, Jasper not only grabbed Emie by the leg, but used her as a weapon against Shade, hitting her with Emie after doing a complete 360 degree spin. After hitting Shade so hard that she was knocked out cold, Emie was thrown in the air completely straight up. Jasper flapped his wings and flew up to her before she fell back down.

In mid air, he rammed his fist into her chest with a nasty crunching noise being heard. Emie's face grew pale behind her tan fur, making her vision go blurry, eventually blacking out soon after she landed on the ground.

All three of them laid motionlessly on the ground before Jasper, who couldn't have been more proud of himself at the time. He turned to Matt, seeing him in absolute terror. He casually stepped forward towards him with his hooves clopping against the dry rock beneath them. Matt held onto Bomber even tighter.

"You know," Jasper said, "I don't think I've _ever_ met a human who's given me this much trouble. First you break out of your confinement, then you let your Pokemon kill off my followers, and now I'm forced to think of even more creative ways of torture before I completely destroy you."

He looked at Bomber in Matt's arms, getting even happier.

"How about I kill you're little Pidgey friend?" Jasper chuckled. "That should get some laughs going."

Matt's eyes narrowed as his knees shook, bending over to set Bomber down behind him. Otto, Rachel and Laurence watched as he limped forward towards Jasper with his bloody fisted raised

"You're gonna have to kill me first..." Matt told him with one of his eyes closed. Jasper started laughing even harder than he had before. Matt could hardly stand on his feet without falling over and he was going to try and take him on? What a joke!

Matt blindly swung his fist at him, not even getting close to hitting Jasper. He stumbled forward with Jasper kneeing him in the chest. Matt coughed, falling down on his side. Blood was still slowly draining with his hands, visibly pale from the blood loss. Somehow, Matt managed to pick himself up, holding both fists up at Jasper.

"Is that all you got?" Matt mocked. Jasper swung his heavy fist against Matt's head, the very same side the hammer had hit him at. Matt was hit so hard that his body spun when he fell down, landing on his already sore chest. Jasper grew cocky, laughing at Matt as he laid there. However, Matt pulled himself up again. He too was laughing.

"You punch like a little bitch..." Matt chuckled, almost falling over when he got to his feet. His balance was so thrown off that he kept leaning back and forth. Jasper swung his open hand into the side of Matt's neck with the sound of a loud pop being made. Matt couldn't stay standing from that blow, hitting the ground once more.

He laid there motionless with Jasper smiling over him.

"Guess you couldn't save your Pidgey after all." Jasper mocked. He turned around to head over to Bomber, but felt a hand grabbing his ankle. He looked down seeing that Matt had latched himself to him. With an iron grip and his face barely looking up at him, Matt glared at Jasper.

"I'm not finished with you yet..." Matt slurred with a scowl. Jasper grew irritated with Matt. He was like a bug that wouldn't quit buzzing in his face. He kicked Matt in the head with his free hoof with Matt's eyebrow being cut open.

"Give it up already!" Jasper yelled at him. "Learn when do quit!"

Bomber opened his eyes slowly, feeling light headed. Seeing out of his cracked goggles, he watched as Jasper continuously kicked Matt in the head. Blood was all over his face, yet still he clutched onto Jasper.

"You're gonna have to kill me before you hurt him..." Matt told Jasper almost incoherently. Bomber got up sluggishly, watching as Jasper kicked the shit out of Matt. With every kick Bomber grew more and more aware of his surroundings with anger building up inside him.

"Why the hell do you care about a stupid little Pidgey?" Jasper asked him. "You're making your death even more painful than it needs to be because of him."

"Fuck you..." Matt spat with blood coming out of his mouth. "He's not just some Pidgey. He's my friend."

Bomber's anger was now mixed with emotions. Laurence kept has hand onthe small piece of land Rachel and Otto were on from being overtaken by the flames, watching Bomber start to vibrate. Rachel couldn't bare to watch Matt kept the crap beaten out of him, covering her eyes as Otto forced himself to watch. A light caught his eye.

Consuming Bomber's body was a white light that even caught Jasper's attention, momentarily ceasing from kicking Matt in the head. Unable to keep going, Matt finally blacked out with his grip loosening from Jasper ankle. The pain and blood loss finally made him lose consciousness. Bomber's figure grew from a short bird to a much larger figure. His aviator fell off his head along with the goggles, landing beside him and his new form.

Bomber was no longer a Pidgey.

He was now a large seven foot Pidgeotto.

With anger in his eyes, Bomber stared down Jasper.

"You're going to wish you'd never messed with my Trainer." he said darkly. Jasper wasn't necessarily intimated.

He didn't have time to be with Bomber bashing into him.

Jasper flew backwards as Bomber rammed his head into his chest. With his feet skidding across the ground, Jasper stopped himself from going any further. Bomber flapped his large wings and flew at him head on with Jasper now flapping his own wings.

Bomber started pounding his wings against the air, sending a large burst of wind at Jasper. The wind was so powerful it knocked him back once more. With Bombers rage at an all time high, he shot towards Jasper with her beak piercing into his body. Relentless stabbing began to take place as Bombers large beak sliced through his chest like it were swiss cheese.

Jasper fell backwards, landing on his back with Bomber lifting his wing up. Like a knife, he slashed his wing across his throat as if it were made of steel, cutting into Jasper's neck with blackness spraying outward. To add insult to injury, Bomber placed one of his powerful talons against Jasper's chest, stabbing it right on through with Jasper just staring at Bomber in disbelief.

With a mist overcoming his body, Jasper's eyes lost focus, soon disappearing all together with Bomber victorious. The ground beneath them began to tremble, changing back into wood as if nothing had happened. In the middle of the room was all of the backpacks that Otto and Matt had lost.

For a moment Matt's eyes opened, but then closed once again, falling back into a dark abyss of unconsciousness. 

Matt opened his eye slowly, feeling like his body was on fire. He saw a blur standing over him. Blinking a few more times made his vision start to kick in better, instantly making him yell out of reflex. Before him was a pale man with blurred facial features.

"Holy shit!" Matt screamed. "Slender man!"

Laurence sighed, glancing over to Rachel who was by Matt's side.

"I really must know who this Slender character is." Laurence told her sounding like his patience was being tested. Rachel put her hand on Matt's shoulder, trying to assure him that everything was okay.

"Calm down," she told him, "you're okay."

Matt blinked once more, seeing Laurence's face with more detail. His purple eyes stood out the most. A head popped out from behind Laurence, being Shade with a smile on her face.

"Hey buddy!" she said excited. "We were starting to think you weren't going to wake up any time soon."

Matt painfully sat up and put his hand on his head. It didn't take him long to realize that they had both been wrapped with medical bandages. Along with that, he felt a few bandages on his face. He was sitting with everyone outside the cabin in the woods they had see before.

"What the heck happened?" Matt said in pain. He felt someone hug him from behind.

"Matt's okay!" Emie exclaimed. He turned his head, seeing Emie latched onto him with Sissy standing by her side, smiling at him. "Emie thought Matt was going to be sleepy forever!"

He was relieved to see that everyone looked okay.

"You're probably going to hate me," Rachel told him, "but I ended up using the rest of your potions after I healed your Pokemon."

Matt thought she was being sarcastic, but soon realized she was dead serious.

"Why would I be mad?" he asked her feeling sore all over. "That's what they were meant for. I'm just glad everyone's-"

Bomber flashed through his mind, realizing that he hadn't seen him. Fluttering down from the cabin roof was a large Pigeotto. Right off the bat Matt recognized that it was him. Surprised to see Bomber being a Pigeotto, Matt just stared for a little while. Bomber squinted his eyes happily.

"Good to see you're still breathing." he told him. Matt shook his head confused.

"You're...you..."

"Evolved." Bomber finished his sentence cheerfully. "I've only been with you for a day and I freaking evolved already. Well, we also almost died, but that besides the point."

Bomber started explaining what had happened with Sissy occasionally adding her two cents about the ordeal. Emie was still hugging onto Matt, happy that he was still alive with Shade sitting next to him cross legged on the grass. In addition to Matt being informed on what had happened, he was also told about Laurence and him being a Gengar. Otto was nowhere to be seen, being told that he was gathering some flowers and other useful ingredients (well, at least what _he_ deemed useful).

"Bomber kicked Jasper's ass." Rachel told him. Bomber lifted one of his large wings, putting it behind his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It was nothin'" he told everyone coyly. "I'm just glad we're all right."

Matt stood up from the grass with Shade doing the same. He looked at her and Laurence with a smile.

"Thank you both so much for your help." he told them. Shade shrugged as if it were nothing. Laurence on the other hand gladly accepted the compliment with a short bow.

"I'm glad to have assisted you." Laurence told him. "It was the least I could do after that unpleasant business with Jasper and those Gastlys."

Shade smiled at Matt, soon with it slowly fading away. She awkwardly put her hands together, poking her two index fingers against each other.

"About what I said earlier," she said shyly. "you know, about you helping me find what I needed for my redemption? Well, I know I totally jumped the gun to assume you'd even _want_ me to tag along with you, but it'd be cool if you let me- only if you want me to, of course." she sighed, feeling slightly stupid. "I probably sound really ridiculous..."

Matt at that time had a spare Pokeball in his hand with her finally realizing it. He was smiling at her the entire time she was trying to justify herself.

"Are you done talking?" he asked her with a laugh. "Or can I use this already."

Shade got excited, jumping in the air and fist pumping. Everyone laughed from her energetic display, making her feel awkward again. She coughed, forcing herself to act serious.

"Yeah." she told him trying to not show how stoked she was. "I'm ready when you are."

Matt tossed the ball down next to her with it sucking her inside. Of course, she didn't fight back with the red dot on it turning white.

And just like that, Matt had a Haunter to aid him in his quest to find Bill.

He picked up the ball and freed her. Instantly, he felt sick for some reason. Thinking about it, he now had four Pokemon out at once, all on green, which would be 2 points on the point counting scale for his Pokemon.

"Turn it to blue so I don't waste your point count." he told him. "That meter doesn't work on ghost Pokemon anyway."

**The Will meter on the Pokeball works on all Pokemon in the exception of Ghost types. They're considered deceased to the modern Pokeball, thus with the the meter not working in the slightest on them. With only rare and expressive Pokeballs being able to actually control them, ghost Pokemon have free will no matter what the Will Meter is at.**

Matt looked around at everyone, seeing that none of them had heard anything. He sighed with a shrug.

"Well, at least things are back to normal." he said to himself, turning Shade's will meter to blue, feeling better instantly. Otto came from around the cabin with his backpack over his shoulders and a smile on his face when he saw Matt up and awake.

"Good to see you're okay." he told him, walking up to his friend and patting him on the shoulder. The contact of the pat hurt him with Matt clenching his teeth.

"I still feel like shit."

"You're not the only one." Sissy told him sound empathetic. "Even with that potion I feel like crap."

"Emie doesn't feel great either." Emie chimed in.

"I've had better days myself." Shade joked, feeling a little pained as well. Bomber squinted happily once again.

"I couldn't feel better than I do now!" he told them happily. "Although my stupid aviator doesn't fit anymore...and I just _got_ that thing today."

Matt looked on the ground curiously.

"Where'd you put it?" he asked. Rachel patted Matt's backpack that was on the ground beside him.

"I put it in here considering he's your Pokemon." she told him. Matt looked back at Bomber with a confident grin.

"I guess we'll have to get it fitted for your new head when we get to Pewter city." he told him. Bomber nodded his head happily.

"That'd be nice." Bomber laughed. "I sorta feel naked without it."

"Speaking of Pewter city," Otto told everyone. "we better keep heading north if we wanna get there before it gets dark."

Rachel looked at everyone, seeing that Laurence was starting to walk off. He turned to them with a smile and waved his hand.

"It's been a pleasure." he told them. "I suppose I should be going now."

Rachel watched him walk away, soon stepping forward out of instinct.

"Hold on!" she told him. Laurence stopped and turned around once more. Rachel got a serious look in her eye. "We could really use your skills on our journey."

Laurence frowned with a sigh.

"Forgive me for sounding harsh," he apologized. "but I don't feel it's my journey to travel. I have no obligations with whatever it is that you all are trying to achieve, therefor not needing my assistance. Whatever it may be, I wish you all luck and hope you find what you're looking for."

Rachel grew saddened. In the short amount of time she'd known him she'd sorta gotten to like him. Besides, he was powerful. If they wanted to get to Bill in one piece they were going to need power like his."

"Hold on," Rachel said, looking over to Matt. She extended her hand towards him. "Give me your last spare Pokeball."

Matt looked at her funny with Laurence raising an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you needing a Pokeball for?" Matt asked her. Rachel narrowed her eyes at him as if to tell him that was a stupid question to ask.

"To catch him, of course." she said. Laurence wasn't sure if she were joking. A simple Pokeball wasn't going to catch him. He could break out of it with a twitch of his finger. Matt even knew that.

"Are you crazy?" he asked her. "He just helped us escape with our lives and you want to catch him? You can't honestly think he's going to be caught with a freaking little Pokeball, do you?"

"You're the one who keeps telling me that I need to have a Pokemon," she reminded him. "and what better choice than him? Besides, I know I could catch him."

Laurence stood there as she spoke like he couldn't hear her or something. Matt sighed, putting the Pokeball in her hand and placing her thumb over the back of it.

"Fine," he told her, putting his thumb over hers. "but you need to re-register it with your DNA for it to work. Like this."

He pushed down with it pricking her finger. She swore from the slight pain, taking the Pokeball from him afterword. Laurence stood there as she awkwardly held the Pokeball, looking at it confused. Shade looked at her as if she were about to crack up laughing.

"You know how to use one of those?" she asked Rachel. Otto held back from laughing with Emie giggling childishly. Even Sissy found Rachel humorous. Flustered, Rachel's face grew red.

"I'm new to this!" she yelled at everyone. "Stop making fun of me!"

"You throw it, genius." Matt told her. "It's not like it's gonna do anything though."

Ignoring Matt, she threw the Pokeball at Laurence, who watched it fly at him.

Like it were nothing, he caught it in mid air with Rachel's expression turning grim. She sighed, lowering her head embarrassed with everyone laughing at her. Laurence saw how disappointment she was. He thought about it, soon dropping the Pokeball.

"Oops," he said as he let it fall. "it appears I've dropped it."

Everyone watched as he was sucked into the ball.

They grew silent as they watched the Pokeball with Laurence purposely putting on an act. Finally, the dot on the Pokeball went white.

Rachel, even if she had a little assistance from Laurence, had caught her first Pokemon!

Just jumped in the air with a loud shout. Laurence forcibly exited the Pokeball that was on the ground that had 'caught' him. He switched it to blue for Rachel, tossing the Pokeball over to her. She caught it with pride with him bowing his head before her.

"It seems your superior will power has surpassed mine." he told her. "I am at your service, my lady."

Matt blinked from surprise.

"That was...unexpected." he admitted. Rachel got in his face with both of her middle fingers raised high like flags.

"That's right!" he told him while flipping him the bird with both hands. "I caught a Pokemon!"

Matt raised his eyebrow at her, folding his arms.

"May I remind you that I've caught five?" Matt told her cockily. "Don't act like you're special."

She was tempted to punch him, but was far too happy with her catch.

And so, with that, the crew continued onward to Pewter city to face their next hurdle. They continued to walk with Matt and his friends surviving from the house of hell, becoming stronger than before.


	32. Chapter 32 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 32**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

With even more of the book finished, Clara happily sat on the edge of her seat with Kane closing the book once again. They had been reading it over the past few days, making progress, however, there was much more to cover. Kane stood up to stretch his legs, heading over to the window after setting the book down on his chair. With the sky overcast, he gazed outside to the sea below.

"Things certainly have been exciting." Clara commented. Kane nodded as he put his hands behind his back.

"They certainly were." he chuckled. "They got even more interesting when I got to meet them for the first time."

Clara was surprised to hear that, soon remembering that Kane had said something like that before.

"You mentioned that you and I had a lot to do with the story." she reminded him. "I'm still curious to know what you meant by that."

Kane stared out the window and nodded his head once again, remembering the events that happened next.

"You'll understand soon enough." Kane assured her. "For the time being, try your best to remain patient. I promise you'll start to understand what I mean soon enough.'

The topic of relevance regarding the story reminded Kane of Clara's medication. He turned to her, tapping at the watch on his wrist.

"Might you forgetting the what time it is?" he asked her with a smile. Clara had nearly forgotten, quickly getting up from her seat and hurrying off out of the office. Kane laughed to himself, shaking his head at forgetful Clara.

"Certainly is forgetful..." he said aloud, looking back out the window. "Though considering the situation I can't really blame her..."

Kane once again checked his watch, then glanced at the letters on his desk. All of them had been opened and read. He made his way to his desk and sat down, pulling out some paper for a letter and picked up his pen.

_**Dear Readers,**_

_** Over the recent chapters, I've received multiple messages and reviews of support on the project I've been putting together. I can't express in words how overjoyed I am that you all enjoy my work, which is a little ironic considering I'm a writer. I've been asked dozens of questions through messages and reviews. Hopefully I can shed some light on your inquires.**_

_** First of all, the story's length has been questioned. For those of you who enjoy lengthy tales, you'll be pleased to know that this is going to be around 300ish chapters, some of which being large and crammed full of content. For those of you wishing for the story to hurry up and end, I apologize. Though, I have my doubts that said fans like that exist.**_

_** On that note, I've been having questions of my own involving the fans and the demographic that this story has been bringing. I can already assume that for those of you whom are reading this currently you enjoy adventure, action, and maybe even a little erotica. For those of you who aren't into the sexual jokes and humor, I once again apologize, however, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing it in the project. Though, I'm curious to know if all my readers (or a majority) are males considering the theme and style of the book. If there are females that are reading this, I'm interested in your opinion on whether or not you're bothered by the themes of violence and sex. Are there those of you (assuming you even exist) that enjoy it or is this more of a male thing? Just wondering.**_

_** Also, I'm brought to another inquiry: who's you're favorite character and who is your least favorite character? And why? Why do I ask? It's always nice to see what fans are thinking and what they feel towards the characters. It helps me get a better realization on how they're viewed by others, making my job as a writer a little easier. If I see a trend, I might just...influence some events.**_

_** I've also been questioned about the Pokemon and which ones apply. For the sake of sanity and originality, I'm sticking with the original 150 for now. I've had a few requests for Pokemon in later generations, which I'll be considering throwing in possibly, but be assured that they'd most likely only have small appearances.**_

_** To be honest, this project wouldn't exist without the pressure of a good friend of mine. She's told me not to use her real name, so I'll just call her Knotty to keep her identity a secret. Believe it or not, I thought writing a fan fiction was going to be a waste of time and that nobody would even read it. Considering the feedback I've gotten, I was wrong and she right. So, I suppose I'm not the only one to thank for the story. Without her it wouldn't even be here. Not to mention she was the one who told me I should do a "Slender" joke. You have her to thank for that too.**_

_** And so I finish off this letter with-**_

Kane momentarily stopped writing the letter, remembering something he prayed he'd have forgotten by then. He sighed, knowing that he was going to have to ask it sooner or later. He scratched out the last line of the letter with an awkward feeling overcoming him.

_**I suppose I have one last question, readers. Knotty and I had gotten into a conversation a while ago that was R rated for sure. We were reminiscing on personal, and very awkward, situations, both of which made us feel like we were weirder than the other. The two of us since then have been trying to see who's weirder with her finally telling me to ask the fans. As much as I loathe doing this, I myself am a little curious to know what you all think.**_

_** So, which is weirder?: accidentally moaning after having a kitten lick their arm or accidentally moaning when they had someone stick a toe in their vagina? I'd specify who's experience was which, but on the account that I certainly don't have a vagina, I think you all can figure out who's was which. Hopefully you fans can settle this once and for all. With that, I say thank you for all of your support and dedication, even when I misspell things and make grammatical mistakes. This story wouldn't be anything without you.**_

_** -Krimson Kane**_

Kane sighed, setting down the pen with a shake of his head..

"I can't believe I just asked that last question." he said to himself, putting his head down on the desk. Soon after, Clara came back into the room, seeing that Kane seemed distraught.

"Is everything alright, sir?" she asked him. Kane raised his head, nodding her with a chuckle.

"Yes," he assured her, "everything is fine. I just had to... never mind, it's not important. How about we get back to the story?"


	33. Chapter 33

_**Chapter 33**_

After what had felt like walking forever, the crew finally made it through the forest. They were once again on the main road that cut through even more plains. Being late in the afternoon, they only had a few more hours of daylight left until nightfall.

Rachel had once again proclaimed herself the leader, taking the lead once again. Naturally, Laurence walked by her side, matching her strides and making sure to not pass her. Matt had Emie and Sissy by his sides, taking the middle of the formation they had created. Sissy would every so often look at Matt's hand that was nearest to her, wondering if she should ask how he was doing. Emie was humming to herself with her eyes slowly starting to feel heavy. Otto, Bomber, and Shade were behind them all with Shade literally riding on the back of Bomber with Otto, who was listening to music, watching her straddle him like a horse playfully.

"All I need are some spurs." Shade laughed with Bomber grimacing slightly to the thought. Sharp objects and him had never gotten along, even more so when they were being jabbed into his sides. The cowboy that Emie knew as Mikhail came to mind with the parallels of spurs and cowboy boots connecting his thoughts together.

"I think I've had enough of cowboys for once day." Bomber told her seriously. He watched Emie walk in front of him, innocently scratching behind her ear as she hummed to herself. Shade nonetheless kept being, playful hopping up and down on him. Her tee shirt was riding a little high, going up to her upper thighs due to the position she was sitting. It was starting to make Bomber curious as to her attire.

"You're...wearing underwear or something under that shirt, right?" Bomber asked her. Shade leaned forward and rested her head on his with a playful wink.

"Not knowing is half the fun." she said flirtatiously. Bomber felt awkward, feeling himself get uncomfortable with her sitting on him. Matt looked over his shoulder at the two of them with Otto minding his own business. He was still listening to music with ear buds in his ears, mouthing the words to the song he was listening to.

"I thought you said you were gay?" Matt asked. Sissy's interest peaked with her ear twitching. She looked over to him with a frown.

"Don't you think there are some things that are best to remain private?" Sissy asked him sounding a little irritated. Rachel looked back as well with a smirk on her face.

"Kinda like the fact that you're into furries, Matt?" Rachel asked. His face grew red with him shutting up immediately. Sissy for some reason found herself getting excited with that fact being reminded to her, feeling her tail start to wag secretly beneath her yukata. Shade didn't seem to mind so much about Matt bringing up her sexual orientation. She'd always been very open about that kind of thing.

"That doesn't mean I don't like to tease." she told them. Bomber felt himself getting a little warm the more she bounced on his back, still unsure what was under her shirt, assuming there _was_ anything.

"Maybe for you," Bomber told her. "but I'm not the one mounted on _you_, am I?"

Shade smiled at him as he cocked his head around to get a better look at her.

"I bet you'd like to though." she said with a wink. Bomber's awkwardness went through the roof with him looking straight forward again. Shade started laughing loudly, making Bomber feel even more uncomfortable. She patted his head with a sigh, knowing that he didn't find it nearly as funny as she did. "I'll stop messing with you." she told him. Bomber let out a relieved huff.

Laurence reached into his jacket pocket of his suit, pulling out his pack of cigarettes. He causally pulled one out and placed it between his lips, soon returning his pack into his jacket. With his cigarette hanging by his mouth, he reached in his pants pockets, coming to an unpleasant realization.

"Well this isn't good." he said aloud with his cigarette bobbing as he talked. "I seem to have misplaced my matches."

He kept walking, however slowed down a bit with the rest of the group behind them catching up. Seeing Sissy gave him an idea. She saw him smile friendlily at her, unsure as to what he was thinking.

"Would you be kind enough to light my cigarette for me?" Laurence asked her. Sissy slowed down as well, soon stopping. Everyone getting the hint to do the same, they all halted with Laurence and Sissy staring at each other. Otto took out his ear buds, wondering what was up.

"Why are we stopping?" he asked everyone.

Nobody gave him an answer. He sighed, feeling the usual feeling of being left out. Telling himself it wasn't important, he put in his ear buds again and listened to his music.

Sissy thought that Laurence was joking with her. If he was, it wasn't a very funny joke. She wasn't even thinking about the fact that she was a fire Pokemon.

"I...don't have anything to light it with." she told him slowly, waiting for some punchline of a joke to come. However to Laurence, that in itself was a joke, now with _him_ thinking _she_ was the one playing the joke. He chuckled as everyone watched the two of them.

"How about yourself, dear?" he asked her. "You _are_ a fire Pokemon after all. I hope it's not too much trouble to ask."

Sissy frowned with her ears folding back slightly.

"I don't know how to use UMP." she admitted. Laurence stared back at her, seeing the sadness on her face. With a few thousand years of experience, he had almost forgotten that some Pokemon didn't know how to use magic. He smiled back at her, removing the cigarette from his mouth and holding it between his index and middle finger.

"It's fairly simple if you know what you're doing." he told her. "Would you allow me to show you how?"

Sissy's ears shot up with her eyes getting bigger.

"You can teach me?!" she asked him with her eyes positively shining with eagerness. Laurence nodded, approaching her and standing by her side. He grabbed her right arm, examining it with everyone watching. Emie, confused as to what he was doing to Sissy, moved closer to Matt.

"What's Laurence doing to Sissy?" she asked Matt unsure. Should she be worried? Matt shrugged, just as in the dark as she was. Laurence bend it a little, trying to remember all the things he had learned about Growlithes

"When I was still alive I met Growlithes that had the same issue of not knowing how to use magic." Laurence explained, now grabbing onto her arm with both hands. "Magic for them was always difficult to handle, but when they learned to harness such power it was absolutely fantastic. The problem is your blood flow. Fire Pokemon have that tendency to accidentally constrict it without even realizing it."

"My...blood flow?" Sissy asked him. Laurence lifted her arm, pulling on it slightly with a nod

"The basics of magic use are easy to grasp, yet hard to follow. Some Pokemon tense up when they try to use it, when in reality they should be trying to relax they bodies. When they tense that constricts the flow of blood, making it harder for magic to travel through the body. Now, do as I instruct, if you would be so kind."

Laurence finally let go of her arm after making her stick her finger out.

"Visualize a flame." he instructed her. "This flame is not only a part of it, but it is also a part of the world around you. Know that you have the power to control this fire and that it can only do what you allow it to. Now focus."

Sissy focused to the best of her ability, closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath. Everyone watched as she held her arm out with bated breath. There was no noise with only the sound of the wind occasionally blowing past them. Otto, who was still listening to music and had no clue as to why they were watching Sissy's hand, fell backwards from surprise when her finger lit on fire. The flame danced on her digit with Laurence smiling at her.

"Bravo," he told her as he lit his cigarette with her fire, "you've just successfully used magic."

Laurence took a drag with Otto getting up from the ground and yanking out his ear buds.

"Why the hell is her finger on fire?!" Otto freaked out. Once again nobody paid attention to him, all too entranced by Sissy's ability. Frustrated, he realized that not a single person there gave two shits about his questions. They were all too marveled by the fact that Sissy had learned how to conjure flames, even on a remote level. Either way, it was still impressive to all of them. Being ignored, Otto swore under his breath and put in his ear buds once again.

"That's incredible!" Sissy said excited. "I did it! I really did it!"

The flame still burned with Bomber cocking his head to the side along with Shade, who was still mounted on his back, doing the same.

"Um, how are you supposed to put that out?" Shade asked her. Sissy opened her mouth, but stopped, discovering that she didn't have the answer. She began to nervously shake her finger as Laurence once again took a drag of his cigarette. Emie cringed, worried for Sissy's well being.

"Doesn't that burn Sissy?" she asked her. Sissy shook her head, still waving her finger about.

"It doesn't burn." Sissy told her. "It just feels warm. Now how do I stop this?"

Laurence ashed his cigarette, reaching out to her finger and lightly squeezing it. The flame dissipated with Sissy feeling a little relieved.

"Just contract or tense the ligament when finished." he told her, placing the cigarette right back between his lips. He turned and continued to walk with everyone soon resuming as well. Sissy was so excited she was actually smiling, which was rare for her to do so publicly.

"I can't believe I can use fire!" She said giddily. Matt reached up and playfully tugged on her ear. She laughed loudly hitting at his hand for him to stop.

"I'm gladly to see you're so cheerful about being a human cigarette lighter." Matt joked. She smirked at him, briefly sticking her tongue out in his direction. Emie huffed, crossing her arms jealously due to Matt being affectionate towards Sissy. Rachel noticed it, turning her head around and snickering.

"I'd be careful Matt." Rachel warned him. "With this new female addition I wouldn't wanna show favoritism. You never know, Shade might be the jealous type too, assuming she breaks her sexual creed and all."

Shade immediately busted out laughing, still riding on Bomber's back. Her laughter was so loud that even Otto could hear it through his blaring music. He grumbled to himself, wondering what it was that he missed _that_ time. Shade was laughing so hard that she had to wipe tears from her eyes.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about me getting sucked into _that_ love triangle." Shade laughed with Emie and Sissy's pair of ears both perking. "Granted, Matt might be slightly attractive, even for a guy, but he's not my type even if I was straight."

Rachel's interests were peaking, making her eyebrow raise, still with her head turned around towards Shade.

"You've gotta be the first girl this entire trip that hasn't fallen head over heals for Matt." Rachel told her impressed. Matt rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"So what was that whole thing about you getting emotional for me then, huh?" Matt asked her. Shade loudly groaned and rolled her eyes right after he had done so.

"Might I remind you that you were _nailed_ to a chair?" she told him. " Of course I was emotional! I'll admit, my emotions tend to get the best of me sometimes. Besides, you seemed like a nice guy and I saw what you'd been through, so yeah, I felt sorry for you. No offense or anything, but I'm not into you that way."

"None taken." Matt told her assuringly with Sissy and Emie both happy to know they didn't have more competition. Rachel was seriously curious to know more.

"So what _is_ your type?" Rachel asked bluntly.

"So much for being private..." Matt muttered to himself. Shade thought about it with a smug smile.

"I dunno," she said unsure. "I guess I like blondes a lot. Big boobs don't hurt either."

Rachel shook her head with a sigh.

"What is it about people ogling over large boobs?" Rachel mumbled to herself.

On the horizon was a speck that looked like town. In fact, it looked larger than just a town.

It was Pewter city.

Matt pointed at it with a smile as it stood proudly in the distance.

"Looks like we're almost there." Matt said happily. "It's about time too. My body's killing me."

"I could use a hot shower." Rachel said lightly scratching her forearm. "I feel disgusting."

"I could use a doctor." Matt added jokingly, raising his hands up. Even though Rachel had done her best to disinfect his nail wounds and wrapped them with bandages, it still hurt like a bitch.

There was a silent pause as the group pressed onward. Shade thought deeply to herself with a smile smile growing on her face.

"I say we race there!" She said was a confident laugh. Shade buckled her legs against Bomber a little more and leaned forward. "Come on, let's go Horse! Let's show these guys what speed is really about!"

Bomber's steps actually slowed down with him cocking his head around to look at her.

"Just because you're riding me like a horse doesn't mean I'm going to _act_ like one." Bomber snickered. "Besides, I really doubt anyone wants to-"

Emie darted off ahead of everyone with a giggle, running like the wind with her tail fluttering behind her.

"Emie is going to be first to the city!" she hollered as she ran. Bomber watched her run, soon with him flapping his wings. Like a shot, he took off so fast that Shade almost fell off of him. He flew in the air, riding low near the ground after Emie. Matt and Sissy looked at each other, shrugged, then began to run as well. Rachel started chasing after them as well, with Laurence following close behind his mistress, still with a cigarette between his lips.

The last person was Otto, who took out his ear buds confused. He watched as everyone ran, not sure what it was all about as the music he had been listening continued to play.

With a sigh, he kept walking at his normal pace, feeling even more left out than before.


	34. Chapter 34

_**Chapter 34**_

The crew, in the exception of Otto, stood before Pewter city. As if thrown back into the middle ages, the people that walked through the streets were dressed in old style japanese attire. Women were dressed like Sissy, wearing kimonos and yukatas alike. When Bomber had previously mentioned that what Sissy wore was a dead giveaway of where she was from he wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. Sissy had a smile on her face, seeing a few children playing by one of the homes.

"I had almost forgotten what my old home was like." Sissy said with a soft tone. Matt looked at her to see that she was smiling. Shade was doing a victory 'dance' as she sat on top of Bomber, who was panting from the insanely fast flying he had done.

"Oh yeah!" Shade gloated. "We beat you guys!"

Emie was panting too, coming in second place.

"No fair!" Emie pouted with another deep breath. "Shade only beat Emie because she was riding Birdy!"

Rachel was nearly jumping up and down with joy. They had finally made it to town, which meant they could finally relax again!

"I don't think I've ever had to walk so much in my entire life!" she said seriously with Laurence standing by her side. For some reason, he too was feeling nostalgic by the entrance of Pewter city.

"It's been far too long..." he spoke quietly to himself. Matt looked behind them, seeing Otto in the distance still walking. He looked like a little grain of rice compared to where they were. Matt sighed, shaking his head in the direction of his friend. Rachel did the same, almost irritated by Otto's display.

"Of course _he'd_ walk." she sneared. "The guy's been sitting at his computer for the past week. I'm surprised he was able to keep up with us when we were walking."

"Come on," Matt told her. "you _just_ said you were tired of walking. Think about-"

"Shut up." she interrupted him, nearly spinning on her heel and heading into town. "I don't plan to wait around for his slow ass all day. I wanna get cleaned up and relax already!"

Emie and Sissy began to follow her with Laurence still stuck by her side loyally. Matt glanced back at Otto unsure. Bomber was still panting, almost dead from how fast he had flown.

"We can't just leave Otto behind." Matt hollered over to Rachel, who was still heading into town with everyone else in the exception of Shade and Bomber. She seemingly ignored him, still walking with everyone else. Matt started getting angry, putting his hand on his head frustrated.

"If she had a brain she'd realize _I'm_ the only one with Trainer insurance- able to get us a place to stay." Matt mumbled, turning his head to Otto. "But I can't just leave Otto high and dry."

Bomber was still panting, still exhausted from the flying.

"I'll wait for him while you catch up ahead." Bomber told him. "I think I need to take a few minutes to rest anyway."

Shade frowned, hopping off Bomber a little disappointed.

"Aw," she sighed, "I sorta wanted to ride you into town..."

Matt hurried off to chase after everyone else with Shade hopping off of Bomber. Before following behind Matt, she hugged Bomber around the neck to thank him for letting her ride him.

"You're a really cool guy." she said to him. Bomber didn't know what to say to that, but before he could think of anything to say she ran off to catch up to Matt.

The crew, excluding Bomber and Otto, trailed through Pewter, passing through small crowds of people. The streets were slightly narrow and made of dirt, resembling more of a renaissance japanese town instead of a city. All of the buildings and homes were only single floor in the exception of one, being the Pokemon center that stood out from the rest of the structures, looking identical to the one in Viridian.

Rachel was pushing past people, not even slightly worried about coming off as rude. Laurence was naturally still by her side, apologizing to anyone who gave them a nasty look. Sissy and Emie stayed close to Matt with Shade having entered his body once again to avoid bumping into people (and walking, of course). Not knowing where she had gone, Emie would every so often look around the crowd with a frown.

"Emie doesn't see Shade..." she said worried. Feeling Shade internally 'nudging' Matt to let her speak, he allowed her to do so through his body with his eyes turning a light red.

"I'm right here, silly." Shade told her through Matt with her voice sounding the same. Emie panicked, letting out a screech of fear when she heard Matt speak like a woman again. More specifically, she was panicked due to her assumptions.

"Matt eat-ed Shade!" She cried, getting the attention of a few people. Rachel turned around, jabbing her shoulder into a man on accident. She was tempted to ask why Emie was freaking out, then realized she really didn't care. She was too tired and uncomfortable. Maybe after she'd showered, eaten, and relaxed a little, _then_ she might care.

Sissy put her hand on her head, embarrassed by all the looks they had gotten from her outburst. Shade, still allowed to use Matt's body, couldn't help but laugh. Was this Meowth seriously that naïve? Wondering how far she could play the joke out, she cleared Matt's throat, trying to imitate his voice.

"Yes Emie," Shade said doing her best to sound like Matt (and doing a terrible job at it too). "I ate Shade and she was..._delicious!_"

Emie stared at Matt's body still under the control of Shade with her eyes widening and slowly beginning to tear up. Out of nowhere, she burst into tears, latching onto Matt and shaking him.

"NO MATT! NO!" she pleaded, getting the attention of even more people as they momentarily halted in the crowd of people. "DON'T EAT SHADE SHADE!"

Rachel kept walking towards the Pokemon center, not giving a single damn about what was going on with Laurence still by her side with his hands in his pockets. Sissy, who was too embarrassed to hang around as Emie violently tugged on Matt, followed close behind Rachel, trying to hide her face from everyone. With Matt not sure if he should keep letting Shade tease Emie, he watched as Shade and him shared his eyes. Shade refused to quit so early, planning on dragging it on as much as she could.

"It's too late, Emie." Shade said still impersonating Matt's voice. "I already did it."

Quickly changing her voice back to normal, she spoke once more.

"He did Emie!" Shade said trying to sound sad, still possessing Matt. "He just gobbled me up when I wasn't looking and now I'm stuck in his stomach!"

Emie stopped shaking Matt sniffling as tears rolled down her face.

"Is...Is it dark in there?..." she asked with her lip quivering. Shade couldn't take it anymore, laughing so hard inside Matt felt his sides in pain. Finally taking back his body, Matt hugged Emie.

"I didn't eat Shade," he told her with his sides hurting, feeling Shade laughing hysterically within him. "She's was just using my body to talk."

Emie, who clearly didn't understand, clung onto Matt with people starting to whisper around them. Putting his arm around her, he walked with her in the direction of the Pokemon center with Emie still sniffling. Shade was still laughing inside him with it echoing in his head.

"_Holy shit,"_ Shade laughed inside his head, _"that's the funniest thing I've ever heard! Is she seriously lacking that much intelligence?"_

_ "She might not be the brightest,"_ Matt thought back to her. "_but she's irreplaceable to me."_

_ "Talk about a dull knife."_ Shade said still chortling. Matt sighed within his own head as poor Emie still cried for the 'fate' of Shade.

_"Yes, but she's __**my**__ dull knife."_ Matt responded, visibly smirking on the outside.

Otto finally made it to the entrance of the city with Bomber happily meeting him there, finally able to catch his breath after the race he had with everyone else. Not listening to his music anymore, Otto stopped in front of Bomber with a frown on his face.

"Would you mind explain why the hell everyone ran off like that?" he asked him. Bomber subtly lowered his head a little, feeling a surge of guilt all of a sudden.

"We were all seeing who could get to the city fastest." Bomber explained. "I was starting to wonder why you were the only one walking."

Otto didn't respond, continuing to walk forward down the street with Bomber following right behind him. A few people gave the two of them puzzled looks as they walked by with Otto's hands in his denim shorts pockets. It was odd to see a Pokemon like Bomber outside of his Pokeball. Naturally assuming that Otto was his trainer, they wondering why he was out of his ball.

"Am I to assume they thought it'd be a good idea to see who could get to the Pokemon center first too?" he asked sounding irate. Bomber noticed the hurt tone in Otto's voice, not wanting to say anything he'd regret. Instead of responding, he held his tongue and continued onward towards the Pokemon center with Otto.

Matt, Rachel, Laurence, Sissy, and Emie (as well as Shade who was still in Matt's body) stood in the lobby of the Pokemon center, just staring at the place. There was the same lounge area in the front with same style of flat screen television on the wall. The flooring was the same, the walls were the same, and even the front receptionist looked the same.

"Is it just me," Rachel asked, "or is this the same place we were before?"

"It certainly looks the same." Sissy commented, examining the woman at the front desk. Having dark hair with dyed orange bangs and in a white uniform, the woman at the front desk looked almost identical to Amber. Everyone approached the front desk with Matt wondering the same thing. Perhaps it was a sister of hers?

Looking up from the desk, the woman froze with surprise. Before her was a group that looked like they'd been through hell. Their clothes were tattered and they all appeared to either warn down or badly beaten, all in exception of the slender man in the suit. She looked almost dumbfounded.

"Matt?" she asked. It took him a moment to respond, realizing that it indeed _was_ her.

"Amber?..." he came back perplex. "What on earth are you doing here?"

She got a laugh out of that, standing up from the desk and computer she was behind, motioning her hands down at her outfit.

"I'm certainly not wearing this because I think it looks good with my eyes." she joked. "I'm working here, of course. I decided to transfer to Pewter city."

The gears in Sissy's head turned, making her squint from thinking.

"Then how on earth did you arrive here before any of us?" Sissy asked her suspiciously. "We left before you did."

Amber smirked at her, putting a single hand on her hip.

"I could lie and say I ran at the speed of light," she teased, "but a more acceptable answer would be that I was flown by helicopter here. Since I'm associated with the Kanto Pokemon centers I'm allowed to be transferred at any give time I so chose to."

"That's certainly convenient." Matt said. "It sure beats the hell out of walking."

Matt felt his bad knee, the one that had been smashed with a hammer, suddenly give way. He had to hold onto Emie to make sure he didn't fall. Amber frowned at him.

"What happened _this_ time?" she asked more seriously. Matt, still holding onto Emie, raised one of his hands up and showed her the blood stained wrapping around it. She almost grew ill just looking at it. Not only did he look like crap, he looked half dead.

"It's a really long story." she explained to him. "I'd be happy to tell you all about it while you patch us all up. Do you still-"

"Whoa, hold on there." Rachel interrupted. "You might feel like crap, had your hands nailed to a chair, blah blah, whatever, but you could at least hook us up with a room first so I don't have to wait in the lounge with my thumb up my butt waiting for you."

Laurence frowned at her exaggeration.

"May I ask why sitting on your thumb would befit you?" he inquired, taking her meaning way to literal. "It seems highly...unnecessary."

"Just an expression." She clarified. Laurence put his hand on his head with a light hearted chuckle, slowly nodding afterword with a bright smile on his face.

"That would definitely make much more sense for it to be an expression." Laurence told her. "Forgive me, dear. It seems I too am weary from all of the events taken prior today."

Matt managed to stand alone on his own two feet, reaching into his backpack and taking out his Trainer insurance tablet. He handed it to Amber, who was eying Laurence the entire time.

"I got to meet Rachel a little bit before you guys left," Amber said linking the insurance up with the computer without even looking. "but I don't recall you guys ever having him tag along."

Laurence happily gave a bow of his head.

"We indeed have not met." he told her sounding as polite and elegant as ever. "My name is Laurence and I am lady Rachel's Gengar."

Amber's expression grew grim with her face looking a little paler. Laurence knew what she must have been thinking, shaking his head at her.

"There is no need for alarm," he insisted. "I am nothing like my kind. And under the command and grace of my mistress you can be assured that I will stay in line."

Even if that weren't necessarily the whole truth considering Rachel had no control over him in the slightest, it was still flattering to hear him say that for Rachel. Not completely comfortable with the fact that there was a Gengar near her, Amber flashed a forced smile.

"O-oh..." she said visibly nervous. "That's...interesting..."

**In the Pokemon universe, most ghost Pokemon are frowned upon and feared due to their commonly disturbing nature and predictability. As Shade had mentioned before, depending on the evolution of the Gastly, the higher up the chain results in a more devious and 'demonic' Pokemon that it is. If Gastly's were to be depicted as evil spirits and Haunters to be demon incarnates, a Gengar itself could very well be viewed as the son or daughter of Satan.**

_"There's no way you couldn't have heard that."_ Matt thought to Shade inside his body. If they were linked to the same senses then she _had_ to have heard what he had.

_"Heard what?"_ she asked him confused.

Matt visibly grew frustrated, swearing in his mind.

_"Never mind..."_ he groaned mentally.

Amber looked at Matt, feeling as if her life were in danger around Laurence.

"Any other new additions I should know about?" she asked him jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood. That was Shade's cue to bolt out of Matt's body, lunging up the the desk with Amber jumping backwards in fright. Emie leapt in the air as well, realizing that Shade was okay.

"Nice to meet 'cha!" she told Amber with a burst of energy. "I'm Shade the Haunter!"

Amber felt herself about to get sick with Emie grappling onto Shade, crying once more.

"Shade is okay!" Emie cried with Sissy rolling her eyes at the brain dead Meowth. Shade laughed, hugging her back with Amber needing to sit down. She leaned on the front counter as she continued working with Matt's insurance.

"Matt didn't really eat me." Shade told her with Emie nuzzling the side of her face against Shades chest. "You certainly are adorable when you're affectionate."

Amber was starting to feel sick to her stomach. She'd never thought she'd have to deal with a Gengar _and_ a Haunter, let alone at the same time. As a child she'd have nightmares about them eating her alive or torturing her. There were times when her older brother would scare her, saying Gastlys were hiding under her bed. Even if they were kids at the time, that image of glowing red eyes under the mattress made her uneasy even to that day.

"Any other surprises?" She asked Matt with less enthusiasm.

In came Bomber and Otto, walking through the front entrance of the Pokemon center and up to the front counter. Getting some looks from a few trainers chilling in the lounge area, the two of them joined Matt and the rest of the crew. Amber looked at the two of them, not blinking. It didn't take her long to realize that they were all together.

"Amber," Matt said stepping out of the way to introduce them both, "This is my friend Otto, the one who built the Dimensional Transferring Device. And this is Bomber, my Pidgeotto. Guys, this is Amber. Her and I met back in Viridian city."

"It's nice to meet you, miss." Bomber told her chipper. She stared at him, standing up to look down at his bird feet. She continued to examine him, looking for some sort of accessory that allowed him to talk. Her confusion made Bomber chuckle, shaking his head at her.

"I'm not wearing anything that allows me to speak, if that's what you're wondering." he told her. "Long story short, I already know how to talk."

Once again Amber had to sit down. Everything she had just heard and seen in the last five minutes was the most ridiculous she'd heard and seen since the last time she met Matt. A Growlithe that hated being in a Pokeball, a naïve Meowth, a talking Pidgeotto, and a Haunter bolting out of his body was like winning the lottery of oddness. Not to mention the friendly Gengar, the young woman from another dimension, _and_ the creator of the device to travel through the dimensions in the first place were standing with him.

"Matt," she said looking up at him. "You and your friends are hands down the most interesting people and Pokemon I've ever met in my entire life. For better or worse."

He looked at her unsure if he should be complemented by that or not or not.

"This is bullshit." Rachel huffed, sitting on the lounge couch beside Laurence. Otto was also sitting on the couch with them with crossed arms. He was still upset about everyone just running off like they had done before. Matt and his Pokemon were in the back room behind the front desk getting themselves healed.

The reason they were waiting was because the VIP suites were all either taken or had to be cleaned. There were only four of them on the account of Pewter city not being as crowded as Viridian. They were told it would only be an hour before they had one cleaned up for them, but that was still too long according to Rachel.

"We shouldn't grow upset." Laurence told her calmly. "It was merely bad timing."

"Maybe so," Rachel said irritated, straddling her backpack between her knees. "but it still sucks."

Otto hadn't said a single word since he'd entered the Pokemon center with Bomber. He just kept quiet and did his best to keep a level head about everything. However, it was hard dealing with Rachel and Matt's crap on a regular basis, remembering what things were like before the dimensional mess took place. Sure, Matt was a good friend, but Rachel and him sometimes excluded him from things whether they realized it or not. It was starting to get on his nerves to be considered a fly on a wall that went unnoticed even by his own friends.

"I'm sick of waiting." Rachel said to Laurence. "I feel like checking out Pewter city to see what it's like. Maybe check out some shops or something. You know what-" Rachel stood up from the lounge couch and swung her backpack over her shoulder. "-screw it, I think I'm gonna."

Laurence stood up beside her with Rachel and him heading in the direction of the entrance of the Pokemon center. She glanced back at Otto, who had his eyes on the television that was on some cooking channel.

"We should be back a little later." she told him. "Let Matt know that we went out for a little bit."

And with that, they left Otto sitting on the couch by himself. With his backpack next to him, he sighed, zipping it apart. Pulling out his laptop, he opened it with a frown.

"Typical..." he mumbled to himself.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Darrell mumbled to Doug as they finished getting dressed, both wearing heavy makeup and kimonos. Doug sighed, doing some final adjustments with his hair.

"Now you know how I feel." he told him, waiting for the curtain of the stage to open. They both stood there waiting with the sound of music beginning to play, soon with the curtains parting. "Just follow my lead." Doug whispered to him, stepping forward on the stage that curved outwards into the bar they were preforming in.

The two of them, both disguised as woman, elegantly walked out onto the stage with a small group of people clapping with even some whistling. The music played as they moved along out to the end of the stage with the watchers cheering as they danced. At the same time, Doug and Darrell did spins, with Darrel coming up behind Doug. Raising his arms up, Darrell stood behind Doug as they both stuck their hands out, giving the illusion that Doug had four arms. Darrell's motioned up and down slowly, acting as if they were flying with Doug putting his hands put together, hiding them in the sleeves of his kimono. Quickly clearing his voice, Doug erected his back, getting himself in the mindset of a woman.

"_The crow and the sparrow must learn how to fly."_ Doug sang, perfectly sounding like the beautiful woman he portrayed himself to be. _"They fly through the heavens until the day that they die. The young turn to old and the old turn to dust."_ Darrell's arms slowly contracted his arms back behind Doug for show as his friend sang. _"With our lives slowly fading, it's our instincts trust."_

Once again the two of them spun, now standing side by side and motioning their hands with grace with their white makeup reflecting the light that shined on their faces. The crowd cheered and clapped with them dancing on stage. Half of the audience was shit faced, rooting and hollering at the 'woman' preforming.

Now with Darrell moving in front of Doug, he crouched down with Doug hovering his hands over him with closed eyes. They made odd motions of their hands, trying to add a mysterious element to their act. If they did that then they might get more money in the end. And considering they were dancing on stage of a bar pretending to be woman, they were desperate for the cash. Doug cleared his voice one last time, doing his best to finish the act strong.

_"So let us fly like the sparrows and crows,"_ Doug sang. _"and let our instinct control what we already know."_ Darrell slowly rose up, standing in front of his friend, soon both doing another spin out to each side of the stage. "_before we turn to dust and fade away, let us take in the joy of our remaining days."_

The music stopped with Doug and Darrell taking bows as everyone cheered like crazy. Money was thrown on the stage with both of them picking it up and clenching it in their fists. As embarrassing as it was do pretend to be a woman, Darrell had to admit that it paid the bills. Every since they got to Pewter they had been doing that act and every time they did it got them enough money to get through the day. Things had getting harder for both of them on a daily basis.

Doug saw a man wave a 2000 Tab-bill in his direction. Seeing such a generous sum of money, Doug approached the man while still on stage, bending down forward to take it from him. The man was clearly drunk and had a mustache that Doug would unfortunately never be able to forget.

He bent down and grabbed the bill, only to be pulled in closer to the drunk male.

Who proceeded to passionately kiss Doug.

With his burly hand behind Doug's neck, he held the kiss there for some time with poor helpless Doug struggling to break free, mortified by what was happening. The thing that made the man let go was projectile vomit that shot into his mouth as Doug hurled in disgust. The man finally let go with Doug holding his stomach and stumbling his way to the back of the stage. Darrell had seen the ordeal, hurrying to catch up with his friend as the curtains closed behind them.

As soon as the curtains closed, Rachel and Laurence had entered the bar. She looked around with a smirk, seeing that it was a modern style pub with open tables scattered everywhere. Most of the people were standing in front of the now empty stage still cheering. Feeling unsafe with Rachel in such a place, Laurence grew cautious.

"Would you please remind me why we chose to enter this establishment, my lady?" he asked her with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Rachel smiled, looking over at the bartender behind the bar counter, looking bored out of his mind. He was cleaning a glass, completely zoned out with his thoughts in the clouds.

"Why not?" she asked him. "What better way to unwind then to get loaded?"

Laurence frowned at her.

"To be honest with you, mistress, I feel that you're above such things."

Rachel acted like she didn't her him, soon with Doug and Darrell exiting out a side door that was connected to the back stage. The had removed their makeup and wore their normal clothes, being that of black tee shirts and torn jeans with Darrell carrying a large duffel bag over his shoulder that contained their costumes. Doug had a paper bag up to his face, hurling inside of it once again with Darrell patting him on the back.

"At least we have money to buy food." Darrell told him, trying to think on the bright side of things. Doug was beyond being optimistic at that point, once again throwing up inside the bag. He wobbled across the bar with nobody even paying attention to them, horrified with what had just happened.

"I was kissed...by a man..." Doug said almost sobbing.

Rachel strolled up to the bar with Laurence by her side. With him with her she would possibly appear to be older than nineteen. She just hoped he wouldn't ask her for an ID.

The bartender glanced at her as she leaned on the counter with a smirk.

"How much for some bourbon on the rocks?" she asked him reaching into her pocket. Not even giving her a second glance, the balding bartender grabbed a bottle of alcohol and started pouring her a glass. He set the bottle down with a thud with little emotion on his face.

"I got the bourbon," he told her, "but we're out of ice. That's 200 tabs."

_Well that was easy_, she thought to herself with Doug and Darrell heading their way to the bar counter. Doug was still loosing his cookies from the mustache incident, holding his barf bag close to him.

**In Kanto, the drinking age is sixteen, but even so, any bar can sell to whomever they please on the account of the liquor laws being so lax. 'Underaged' drinking isn't as looked down upon as it is in other cultures such as America's."**

Doug vomited again from the sudden fright of hearing the random narration. Rachel turned her head, placing down the money on the counter. She was shocked to see the two of them and even more so to see Doug looking so sickly. The bartender took the money and went back to his daydreaming as Rachel and Darrell met eyes.

"Darrell?"

"Rachel?"

"_Hork_!" Doug sounded as he vomited in his bag.

Laurence suddenly stepped in front of Rachel, staring down Darrell.

Even if Rachel couldn't tell, Laurence knew something wasn't right about him.

Darrell smelt of death...

"Hey, what the heck Laurence?" Rachel protested.

"State your business with my mistress!" he demanded.

Darrell was too cold blooded to be scared off by him. He said nothing, just staring at Laurence with defiance.

"Laurence, calm down." Rachel told him. "These two are old friends of mine I met back in Viridian city."

Laurence glared at Darrell who did the same in return.

"What's your deal, pops?" Darrell snapped at him. "You off your meds or something?"

Laurence bared his teeth.

"Do not speak to me with such a disrespectful tone." Laurence told him, losing his gentlemanly disposition. "What is your business with my mistress?"

"Laurence," Rachel said a little more sternly. "cut it out. Don't make me say it again, please."

Laurence let out a sigh, stepping away and rejoining Rachel's side. The entire time he glared at Darrell. Rachel looked concerned for Doug, but didn't bother asking. Instead, she grabbed her drink that was on the bar and took a sip while leaning her back up against the counter. Darrell stared back at Rachel confused. He hadn't expected to run into them so soon. Granted, the entire reason they came to Pewter city was to catch up to them and steal Matt's Growlithe.

"What are you doing here?" Darrell asked her, acting casual. Rachel shrugged, taking another sip of her bourbon.

"Just trying to pass the time while a room opens up at the Pokemon center." she told him. "We've been through a lot since we left Viridian. You'll have to excuse my Gengar, he's apparently on edge from all the stress too."

Laurence didn't say a word, still staring at Darrell.

So help him, if Darrell made one false move around his mistress he'd break his neck like it were a twig.

"His mustache..." Doug muttered to himself in horror. "It was so...hairy..."

He once again threw up in the bag he was holding, still with Rachel and Darrell holding up a casual conversation. Darrell glanced at Laurence with a raised brow.

"He's a Gengar, huh?" he said surprised. "that explains why he's so ill mannered when it comes to introductions."

Laurence stood with his back straight and his hands by his side.

"My manners shouldn't really reflect my own etiquette," Laurence told him dryly. "rather the company I'm around. Can you blame a dog for barking at the door when a man of masks come knocking?"

Rachel looked at Laurence perplexed.

"The heck are you talking about?" she asked him.

Laurence didn't respond with Darrell suddenly becoming suspicious of his meaning.

"Probably nothing." Darrell told Rachel with a faint smile. "Just a dog barking, like he said. Just remember that dog's bark is much more frightening than it's bite, Gengar."

"I assure you," Laurence told him. "my bite is far more threatening than my bark."

The two of them glared at each other with Rachel wondering why they were so hostile. Doug lowered his bag, taking a deep breath.

"So...how how you been?" Doug asked sounding on the verge of getting sick again.

"Alright, I guess." Rachel told him as Doug tightly held onto his vomit bag.. "I'd ask you the same thing, but you certainly don't look like you're prancing in a field of flowers."

Doug forced a chuckled despite the sickness he felt in his gut.

"I've definitely had better days." he told her causally. "Darrell and I have been trying to save up money to find a place to stay for the night. Things have been a little rough lately so him and I have been doing some odd jobs hear and there."

"Would any of those jobs involve blood money?" Laurence asked 'jokingly', still looking at Darrell.

"Oh no," Darrell said, forcing himself to sound like he found Laurence funny. "I wouldn't dream of getting any of my money stained with blood. It's harder for venders to take your cash that way I prefer robbing from children and the elderly."

Both Laurence and Darrell forced themselves to laugh with Doug and Rachel not getting what the hell was so 'funny'. Brushing their 'sarcastic' moment aside, Rachel looked at Doug with a frown.

"Where have you guys been staying?" she asked. Doug frowned as well with his grip on his barf bag loosening a little.

"I guess you could say we've been living on the streets lately." he admitted. "Everywhere you go around here is too expensive, especially this time of year."

Rachel was appalled to hear that.

"You've been sleeping on the street?" she asked him, wondering if that too was supposed to be a joke. Doug nodded his head, still feeling sick to his stomach.

"Yeah," he told her. "but it's not so bad once you get used to it."

Rachel looked down at her drink and stared. After moments of silence, and dark stares being shot from both Laurence and Darrell, she quickly downed her drink, slamming it on the bar counter behind her. He burn of the alcohol made her shake her head.

"Not tonight, you're not." she told them. "I don't give a shit what Matt says, you're staying with us while we're here. You two deserve better than to sleep outside after what you guys did for us."

Everyone at once looked at her

"Are you serious?" everyone asked in unison, including Laurence who was more than a little upset about her decision. She nodded her head.

"I'm damn sure." she said, not yet feeling the alcohol slowly starting to work in her system. "You're good guys and deserve to sleep in a warm bed. It might be a little crowded in our place, but I think we can figure something out."

Doug smiled, feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders.

"I could kiss you!" he told her, giving her a hug with one arm with the barf bag held in the other. She hugged him back with a friendly laugh. This didn't bother Laurence in the slightest. As far as he could tell Doug hadn't harm anything in his lifetime, hardly even a bug for that matter.

"It's not that big a' deal." she told Doug with Darrell frowning at her.

"You sure?" he asked her. "We wouldn't want to impose."

"I think I'm going to side with him on this." Laurence told her. "I feel they would indeed impose."

Rachel gave him a frown, still hugging onto Doug.

"Quit being a sour puss." she told him. "You seriously need to work on your people skills. Come on, we should probably start heading back."

With that, Doug and Rachel headed for the exit of the bar. Laurence and Darrell didn't move, with Darrell watching as the other two left.

"So..." Darrell said slowly as soon as they were out of ear shot, still with his duffel bag hanging from his shoulder. "Sounds like you're not as dense as everyone else I've met."

"It takes a killer to know a killer, I suppose." Laurence told him very darkly. "And it seems we are not only men of words, but men of action as well. I've taken plenty of lives and it appears that you've taken your fair share as well. Let me say this now: if you even think for a moment of harming my mistress or any of her friends, I **will** kill you."

Darrell refused to look at him, still watching the exit of the bar and wondering if this was going be a perfect change to kidnap Sissy. Being under the same roof certainly would make things easier. Perhaps it would be wise to take a break from his goal however. At least for the time being.

"I left that life behind me." Darrell told him. "If you're worried about me taking the ax to anyone you can relax. I'm not that kind of a person anymore. But I can't but wonder, what did you mean by man of masks?"

Laurence stared at him for a while, soon with Darrell finally meeting his stare with one of his own. The two of them said nothing. Just meeting each others eyes.

" The amount of death lingering around yourself is staggering. One would only assume such a killer like yourself would wear masks." Laurence told him. "The Shadow Assassins that work for Team Rocket especially..."

Darrell once again turned his head away from him, proceeding to head for the exit.

"Like I said," he told him while leaving. "I left that behind me."


	35. Chapter 35

_**Chapter 35**_

Healing Matt's Pokemon proved to be fairly simple. Sissy, after making sure everyone wasn't watching her undress, entered the Daisy chamber and was currently being healed. Emie allowed herself to be put in her ball to be healed on the regular Daisy machine, with her Pokeball rolling on the designated space on the tray it was put on. Having no injures in a serious nature, Bomber and Shade cheerfully stayed in the back with everyone while they waited. As stated, Matt's Pokemon were easy to have healed. Matt however was another story.

Only being one Daisy chamber, which Sissy was using at the time, Matt had to be healed using what Amber called "Daisy solution." It was a foul smelling chemical that slightly burned when placed on the skin. Matt was forced to clench his teeth after every time she administrated it on him, using a cloth that had soaked in the solution. Trying to keep his mind off of the pain, he went into detail about what had happened since he last saw her, accidentally letting out a whimper every now and again from the sting of the solution. Matt quickly had to regain his composer in fear he'd seem weak in front of her. Amber was starting to feel guilty for putting Matt through even more pain than he was originally in, pouring a little more Daisy solution on the cloth she was using.

"Are you sure this doesn't hurt to bad?" she asked him for what had to have been the eight time. Matt somehow forced himself to smile even as his skin felt like it were being lit on fire every time it came in contact with that awful chemical.

"Oh, it doesn't hurt that bad." Matt told her, trying to keep his tough persona. "After having your hands nailed to a chair everything else seems-" Matt swore by accident when Amber placed the dampened cloth on his cut eyebrow. He quickly acted like he hadn't done so, finishing his sentence with "like child's play."

"You're a horrible lair." Shade mumbled under her breath, once again sitting on Bomber's back, who was standing beside his trainer. Every time Matt let out a noise of pain he would wince a little empathetically. Matt glanced at Shade with an unamused expression.

"Shut up." he told her. "So this might sting a little, but that doesn't mean I can't handle-_gah!"_

Matt once again let out a sound of pain with Bomber slightly shuttering to the sound of it. Shade raised an eyebrow at him with a 'yeah-right' attitude. Matt sighed as Amber reluctantly put more of the solution on the cloth.

"Okay," Matt admitted, "this hurts like hell. And it doesn't help that I'm sitting in my underwear."

Yes, Matt was sitting before everyone in his blue boxers. It wasn't like Amber was going to be able to heal his beaten body while he was still wearing his clothes. It was a little awkward for him, but once again pretended that didn't bother him either. His facade was slowly being chipped away every time he showed embarrassment to Amber touching his chest or inner thigh with the cloth.

"I've already seen your ass after you came out of the Daisy chamber that one time." Amber reminded him with a laugh. She placed the cloth against his skin once again with Matt able to not make a sound that time. It still hurt like a bitch.

Bomber had mostly been silent the entire time with his mind wandering. After what Otto had said it got him thinking. He still felt sorry for Otto, wondering if he should say something to Matt about it. Was it even his place to do so? Deciding it would be best to speak up, Bomber awkwardly cleared his throat, feeling nervous about bringing the topic up.

"Hey, um, Matt?" he said with Shade playing with the feathers on the back of his neck. Matt looked up at him, trying to hide his pain.

"Yeah bud?" he asked. Bomber was silent for a moment, soon shaking his head as if to say it wasn't important. Matt smirked at him, soon letting out a grunt of pain from the sting of the Daisy solution Amber was putting on his shoulder. "You can tell me what it is. Anything that's on your mind, feel free to say it. I'm not gonna bite your head off."

"Well," Bomber said starting off slowly, "it's about Otto."

Matt's eyes narrowed slightly as if worried about his friend.

"What about him?" he responded a little quick as if expecting he had fallen in a ditch or something. The next surge of pain made him seem less worried, although seemed more irritated with the constant burning. Bomber sighed, shrugging his large wings he kept close to his sides.

"He seemed kinda upset about us just ditching him like we did." he explained. "I tried to explain to him that we were just seeing who could get to Pewter city first, but I still think he's sore about it."

Matt thought about it, recollecting the past few hours ever since Otto had arrived. Literally one of the first things he'd had dropped on him was the news about not going home with them. After nearly dieing in the cabin, or wherever the hell they had been, he hadn't really said anything. Otto had just been keeping to himself, quietly contemplating.

"I should probably talk to him about it." Matt said aloud. "Thanks, Bomber."

Bombers eyes gleaned with a cheerful gaze, happy to know that he hadn't said anything he shouldn't have. Shade was still playing with the feathers on the back of Bomber's neck. Carelessly yanking, she pulled one of them out. Bomber cringed from the sharp pain as Shade held it up. It was about the size of her forearm.

"You've got really big feathers." Shade told him. He silently turned to look around at her as she sat on his back. A small, playful smirk grew on her face. "And you know what they say about big feathers."

Shade winked at him with Bomber blushing, turning his head back facing forward, regretting making eye contact with her. Matt sighed, shaking his head at her as Bomber felt awkward with Shade sitting on his back once again.

"Be nice." Matt told her with a faint smile. "I think you've harassed Bomber enough for one day."

Shade grumpily sighed, flopping forward on Bomber with the feeling of her chest pressing up against the back of his neck.

"I was just complementing him about most likely having a big dick." She said trying to sound innocent. Bomber's face nearly flashed a bright red with him hiding his face from everyone.

"Could we please not talk about my anatomy?" Bomber asked sheepishly. Shade raised her eyebrow at him curiously.

"What?" she asked. "Are you ashamed or something? Or are you just shy about it?"

Matt sighed once again, looking at her again as if disappointed.

"Not everyone is as open about things as you might be." Matt told her. Shade rolled her eyes as if he were overreacting.

"Oh come one," she told Bomber, "it's not that big of a deal. Hey, I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Bomber's head snapped around with his face still bright red beneath his feathers.

"W-what?!" he said nearly panicked as Shade's expression was dead serious. "Quit joking like that!"

"Who said I was joking?" Shade asked with a smug smile. Bomber was clearly even more flustered by her assurance that she indeed was being serious. He violently shook his head, still with her straddled on his back. She once again drew close to him, wrapping her hands around his large neck and pushing her chest against the back of him. "Ah, come on, big guy. You can't blame a girl for wanting to know what a strong, sexy Pidgeotto like yourself looks like down there."

Matt once again looked at Shade with narrowed eyes. Even Amber had momentarily stopped healing him to stare at her.

"But I thought you were gay..." Matt reminded her at a loss. Shade shrugged, still with her body pushed up against Bomber, who was now beginning to panic.

"That doesn't mean I'm not still curious." she told him.

"I'm not exposing myself to you!" Bomber told her flustered.

The sound of a ding made Amber turn her head, setting down the cloth and moving over to the Daisy machine where Emie was being healed. While doing so, nobody else noticed her get up and head towards the machine due to the hysteria Shade was causing. She was still clung onto Bomber and pretending to pout.

"Oh, come on, big guy. I thought you liked me..." she sniffled, now starting to 'cry.' For some reason, Bomber was starting to feel bad.

"Well, I do like you as a person!" he assured her quickly, not wanting to 'upset' her any further. Shade soon stopped, then rubbed her head against the back of his.

"Are sure you only like me as a person?" she asked him, purposely pressing her breasts against the back of his neck. "or do you like me more than that?"

Bomber for felt himself starting to get...excited. Soon realizing that his lower plumage wasn't going to him hide his...joy for much longer, he worryingly looked at Matt.

"Please put me in my ball!" he begged. Matt watched at Shade started rubbing her body against his, soon putting two and two together. Reaching for his pants on the floor, he took Bomber's Pokeball off from his belt, pressing the buttons on the side of it. Bomber turned into a red silhouette, soon being sucked into the Pokeball. Shade fell when he disappeared from beneath her, landing on her front. She swore with her butt sticking up in the air with her large tee shirt barely covering over it.

"Damn..." she muttered to herself. Matt held Bomber's Pokeball beside him with a frown directed at Shade.

"Don't make me put you in yours." he told her sternly. Shade once again gave a pouting expression to Matt, dropping Bomber's feather on the floor. Matt felt even more tension being relieved in the back of his head for some reason, staring at Bomber's ball. With all of his Pokemon now back in their balls (the ones that were set above blue) Matt was down to a 0 point count. He had forgotten what it was like to not have Pokemon out. He had set Sissy's to blue when she went in the Daisy chamber, not wanting to waste his energy if he didn't need it. Amber came back, handing over Emie's Pokeball, still in it.

"You know," she told him, "you're probably the only trainer who keeps all of their Pokemon out on a regular basis. It's actually rather unheard of."

"I don't really have a choice in the matter when it comes to Sissy." he told her. "Besides, I've just gotten in the habit of letting them stay out with me. I'd feel bad if I just kept them in there all the time. I dunno, maybe that just makes me a pushover."

Amber smiled at him as he held both Emie and Bomber's Pokeball in his hands in front of him.

"If that says anything," Amber told Matt, "that tells me that you're a really caring person, not a push over."

The two of them smiled at each other, soon with Shade completely ruining the moment.

"Hey, Matt," she said pointing at the Pokeballs he held near his lap, "I can see your balls!"

She started laughing with Matt rolling his eyes with a sigh at her terrible joke. Amber placed the cloth on Matt's hand with the sound similar to sizzling being heard. He held his eyes shut and mentally brought himself to a happy place in his mind. Oddly enough he was thinking about drinking tea with Mom and Sissy. The burning continued with the pain suddenly feeling as if it weren't even hardly there anymore.

Matt had only been gone for a few days after leaving Mom's house. So far they had covered a lot of ground and made serious progress. In such a short amount of time things had happened.

Lost in his thoughts, Amber placed the cloth on his other hand. Shade, who was watching in boredom, yawned and stretched her back.

"I think I'm gonna check on what's-his-name." Shade announced, heading for the door that led out to the front area of the Pokemon center. Matt opened one eye and glanced over to her.

"You mean Otto?" he asked. Shade didn't respond, exiting through the door not hearing his question. Amber let out a sigh of relief.

"No offense," she told him, "but I'm sorta glad she's gone. Even if she is 'nice' I don't really trust ghost Pokemon that much. They scare the living hell out of me."

Matt smiled at her, getting used to the burning sensation the Daisy solution had on his skin. Even if it did hurt, his body overall was starting to slowly feel better. The damages he had sustained during that day were beginning to disappear as if they had never been there in the first place.

"And here I was thinking you were fearless." Matt joked with her. He clenched his teeth as she pressed the cloth down on another one of his wounds, being the side of his face that had been bashed with a hammer.

"I don't know where you'd get _that_ crazy notion," she told him, "but I assure you I'm far from fearless. I'm scared of lots of things like ghost Pokemon, confined spaces, and possibly getting fired somehow."

Matt had to laugh at the last one.

"Someone with your skill couldn't possibly get fired from their job." he told her confidently.

Amber stared at him a little longer than intended, soon averting her stare to not make herself seem awkward. She was having a war going on in her head, wondering if she should even ask him or not the question that had been bugging her ever since she met up with Matt in the arcade back in Viridian.

"I was wondering," she began slowly. "how long are you guys going to be staying here in Pewter city?"

"I dunno." Matt told her. "I haven't really had much time to think about it. Why?"

Amber refused to make eye contact. For someone as bold as she was she was certainly having issues asking him. She finally couldn't take it anymore and looked him dead in the eye.

"Look," she told him with a sigh, "I've sorta had a crush on you ever since I first met you. Knowing a guy like you you've probably got woman all over the place begging to be with you and I guess I'm no exception. You'll probably say no, but...well, would you consider maybe going out on a date with me sometime?"

Matt stared back at her, finally with Amber turning away from him again.

"Sure," Matt told her with a warm smile. "I think that sounds fun."

Amber sighed, suddenly looking depressed.

"I sorta knew you were gonna say tha-" She stopped in mid sentence with her eyes slightly getting larger from surprise. "Wait, did you say yes?"

Matt nodded at her with Amber still staring at him in shock.

"You don't have to act so surprised about it." he laughed. A smile soon appeared on her face, almost overcome with joy. The sound of the Daisy chamber dinging made both Matt remember Sissy. Thinking to himself, he wondered with all of the current drama in the air if he should say anything about planning to go out on a date with Amber...


	36. Chapter 36

_**Chapter 36**_

Otto was coding a program he'd been working on with his laptop, still in the same place as Rachel had left him in. This time however Shade had joined his side, watching the large television with her eyes ogling the actress on screen. Some soap opera was on with Otto every now and then glancing up, pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

Not taking her eyes off the actress she was secretly lusting over, Shade stared at the television without blinking until her eyes began to hurt. From what Otto could tell it was some half baked show about medical surgeons with screwed up lives and who constantly made horrid decisions involving life choices. If they were such poor decisions makers, Otto thought to himself, then why the hell were they allowed to make decisions on how to save a person they had under the knife?

"I would do her _so_ hard..." Shade mumbled to herself, anciently speaking loud enough for Otto, as well as some of the other trainers watching as well, to hear her. Otto gave her a look of confusion, not realizing she swung that way. He had never really gotten to meet her nor did he hear her previous statements involving her sexual orientation on the account of listening to his music. In fact, there was a lot he didn't know about everyone, including Rachel and Matt's recent events. They had kept him in the dark ever since he'd arrived. Shade didn't notice him looking at her as she sat with her legs crossed.

"What's you're name again?" Otto asked her. Shade didn't bother looking away from the TV, too focused on the woman's cleavage on screen.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." she told him honestly.

"I'm Otto." he told her.

"Shade." she responded vaguely still with her eyes glued on the set. "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you." Otto told her with lack of emotion, going back to his coding, tabbing away at his laptop at a moderately fast pace. Neither one of them took any offense to each others lack of focus, too busy doing whatever it was they were doing to care.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" A trainer said to his friend, both sitting on the other end of the long and curved couch Shade and Otto were on. "They can't do that!"

"I'm telling you the truth." The other trainer responded, who was wearing a long coat and tattered clothes. His friend, who was wearing almost identical attire, but was wearing a denim jacket instead, looked pissed.

"It's gotta be a rumor." the guy in the denim jacket told his friend.

The two of them kept going about with their conversation with Otto and Shade still minding their own business. However, Otto couldn't help but wonder what it was they were talking about. Otto was never one to care to pry into other peoples affairs, but on the account of being so socially deprived he was desperate for conversation of any kind. He raised his head and looked over at the two of them.

"What's a rumor?" he asked. Both trainer returned his question by looking back at him.

"The road to Cerulean is currently blocked off by some mercenary company." the guy in the long coat told Otto from across the lounge area in the lobby of the Pokemon center they were in. "They're telling everyone that Mt. Moon is too dangerous to pass thanks to Team Rocket."

The name Team Rocket made Otto wonder. Weren't they the bad guys in the Pokemon games? More importantly, didn't Matt and them need to head that way if they were going to get to Bill's?

"Did they say when they're going to be letting people pass through again?"

The trainer in the long coat shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied. "but knowing Gail Company and Team Rocket they'll be at each others throats for a while."

"Shit..." Otto muttered to himself, still with Shade glued to the soap opera actress.

"I still say it's a rumor." the trainer in the denim coat chimed in. His friend in the long coat rolled his eyes at him.

"Oh my god," he said irritated, "I was _just_ there and they told me we can't pass the checkpoint."

"Maybe it was a misunderstanding or something." his friend came back. "Stuff like that happened all the time."

"Seriously? What do you think I am? Stupid?"

"I didn't say you were stupid," his friend responded a little offended. "I was just saying you probably misunderstood what they told you."

The two of them went at it with Otto closing his laptop and sliding it into his backpack.

"I better let Matt know." he said to himself.

As if on cue, Matt exited out the door that was behind the front desk with Amber and Sissy joining him. Coming in behind them after Matt had let them out of their Pokeballs, Bomber and Emie were both close behind to Matt. Amber went back to her station at the front desk.

On the other side of the Pokemon center lobby came in Rachel with the automatic doors sliding open for her along with Laurence, Doug, and Darrell following. They all headed towards the lounge area, going behind the large couch. Otto quickly hopped over it with everyone looking at everyone else.

"Darrell?" Matt said surprised, soon seeing Doug with him (who still looked sickly from being smooched by the man with the mustache). "Oh, hey Doug. What are you two doing here?"

Rachel butted in before the two of them could say anything.

"They're passing through as well," Rachel told Matt. "but they don't have a place to stay. Considering we get to stay for free thanks to you, I figured we'd let them stay with us."

Matt looked unsure.

"The VIP suites only have four rooms." he told her. "That's a lot of us already to fit into a single VIP suite."

"Nonsense." She told him, with Otto trying to get a word in between their conversation. "This is how I look at it: You and your Pokemon share a room, Otto get's a room, Laurence and I share a room, and Doug and Darrell share a room."

There was so much commotion going on after that that nobody heard Otto trying to talk.

"That's a lot of bed sharing..." Matt said. Laurence wasn't sure he was necessary comfortable with the idea either.

"My Lady," he told her, "I feel that it would be... less than proper for the two of us to share the same bed."

"And what about Doug and Darrell?" Matt added. "It might be a little weird for them to be sleeping together too."

"Why would it be?" Rachel asked. "They're a couple so I don't see it being that big of a deal."

Doug and Darrell looked mortified, with Doug almost throwing up again.

"We're not a couple." Darrell told her, getting irritated that everyone thought that Doug and him were gay for each other. Doug shook his head, holding his stomach in his sickness.

"I don't feel so good..." he murmured to himself.

"Oh..." Rachel said surprised. "I just assumed that-"

"To assume makes an ass out of people." Darrell interrupted. Laurence's purple eyes were set ablaze.

"Do not speak to my mistress with such disrespect." He told him sternly. Darrell shot him a nasty look, but said nothing as the crew continued to speak amongst themselves. Otto was still trying to get their attention, but with no such luck.

"But you guys don't mind sharing a bed if you had to, do you?" Rachel asked them worried. Doug and Darrell looked at each other, both shrugging.

"It's not that big of a deal, I guess." Doug told her sounding on the verge of vomiting.

"What about Matt?" Sissy asked a little upset. "I'm not too fond of Emie, Shade, and I all sharing the same bed with him..."

"Not to mention I don't think I'd fit..." Bomber impute.

"But Emie wants to sleep with Matt..." Emie told Sissy, who in return glared back at her.

"That's exactly the reason why I don't want you sleeping in the same bed as him. I wouldn't appreciate hearing you two going at it like rabbits, even more so with me beside you."

Matt smirked at Sissy, still with Otto trying his hardest to get their attention. He had now resorted to waving his hands around.

"So you wouldn't mind Emie and I fooling around anywhere else?" Matt joked. Sissy didn't find it too funny with Emie getting excited. Getting in his face, Sissy poked at his chest.

"Why the hell would I care?!" she yelled, desperately trying to keep the image of hating him.

"Because you're jealous?" Bomber asked her. Everyone started chuckling and giggling at his comment with Sissy's face turning red behind her dark orange fur. She snapped her head at him with her hands in balled fists.

"Nobody asked you what you thought!" she screamed. Bomber stumbled backwards a little, getting afraid of her. Matt put his hand on Sissy shoulder.

"Calm down," he said trying to sooth her, "I was only joking."

She smacked his hand away from her.

"No you weren't..." she said hurt. Matt frowned.

"It's a simple fix." Rachel told him. "Have your Pokemon sleep in their Pokeballs."

Sissy looked at Rachel in horror.

"I'm not sleeping in there!" she yelled. Emie frowned, nodding with Sissy.

"Emie doesn't really like her Pokeball either. The Pokeball is dark and scary inside..."

Bomber shrugged his wings.

"I don't mind doing that." Bomber told Matt. "I'm just thankful you've kept me out for so long, but it's not like you have to or anything."

"No offense," Shade said with her back facing everyone, still sitting on the couch watching TV. "I'm not really into the Pokeball thing either."

Rachel sighed, putting her hand on her chin in a thinking position.

"Hey," Otto said to everyone, "you guys..."

He went unheard once again. Rachel snapped her fingers with the light bulb in her head going off.

"I got it." she told him. "Have Emie and Sissy in their beast forms. That way it'd just be like sleeping with pets. That way there wouldn't be sexual tension, or at least I hope not."

Matt got mad at her imply he'd do anything to either one of them in their beast forms.

"I might like strange things," Matt told her, "but I'm not into bestiality!"

Rachel ignored him, looking over to Shade.

"That solves that, but what about her?" she asked. "Where's Shade gonna sleep if she's-"

"I'll just sleep inside Matt." Shade said, with the commercials coming on. She turned around and phased through the couch, walking over to Matt. Emie gasped as she saw Shade enter Matt with his eyes suddenly turning a light red. "That way it won't be awkward." she spoke through him.

Emie latched onto Matt in hysteria.

"NO MATT!" she pleaded. "DON'T EAT SHADE-SHADE AGAIN!"

Shade and Matt, sharing the same body, stared at Emie as she burred her face into his chest, sobbing as if she had lost a dear friend. Unsure if she were serious or not, Shade didn't know what to think.

_"Nobody can be that dense, can they?..."_ Shade thought to Matt inside his head. Matt physically chuckled with his eyes returning to their deep blue.

_"You obviously haven't gotten to know Emie that well, have you?"_ he came back.

Otto was at his breaking point with his face visibly red.

"**FOR FUCK SAKE!**" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "**WILL EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP FOR FIVE SECONDS?!"**

Everyone stopped what they were doing, looking at him startled from how loud he had yelled.

"What the heck are you yelling about?" Rachel asked him with an unimpressed huff. Otto was about to snap somebodies neck. He put his hand on his head with his eyes clenched closed in anger.

"I'd tell you if you'd give me a change to actually say something."

"Then say it already." Rachel snapped. Otto opened his eyes, glaring at her.

"The road to Cerulean is closed." he told everyone. "Nobody is allowed to pass through Mt. Moon as of now."

Matt looked at his friend confused, pulling out the map that was in his inner jacket pocket, opening it up with a frown.

"But we have to go through there if we're gonna find Bill." Matt said aloud. Everyone frowned with even Doug and Darrell upset about that.

"How do we know it's not some rumor?" Rachel asked. The television behind them was in mid commercial before being interrupted by strange music. Everyone turned to look at the screen, even Amber who was sitting at her post.

On screen was an older male, presumably in his late fifties. He had gray hair that slightly stuck out beneath his military hat. Only the top part of him was shown, wearing a suit with an unfamiliar looking pin pinned onto it.

"Hello," he said in a fairly assertive voice. "this is General Gail from Gail Company informing all residents that as of now that Mt. Moon is under lock down. We apologize to everyone for this necessary inconvenience. We currently do not know how long this lock down will be, but assure everyone that this is only temporary. Thank you for your understanding."

The announcement cut out with the commercial coming back on.

"You still think it's a rumor?" Otto asked her sarcastically. She swore, looking at Matt a little worried.

"Why the hell are they locking Mt. Moon down?" she asked him.

"Someone said it was because of Team Rocket." Otto said.

Sissy's ears twitched with her eyes widening. Her expression grew almost enraged with her fists clenching again.

"Bastards..." she growled. "I should have known they'd screw something up while we were on our journey. They always do something..."

"Who the heck are they?" Rachel inquired.

"They're good for nothing scum that take whatever the fuck they want and do whatever they please!" Sissy yelled. "Those bastards deserve to die! Every last one of them!"

Matt was uncertain, but by the way she was acting it sounded like she had a few things she hadn't told him before about her past. A teardrop was forming in her eye, but she quickly wiped her eye as if she had something in it. Doug for some reason seemed a little more nervous with Darrell looking down at the floor as if ashamed.

"Isn't there another way around?" Rachel once again inquired with hope in her voice. Matt was staring at the map with his frown still present.

"According to the map it's the only way." he told her. "It's either that or we'd be forced to go through a cannon called Dead Man's Sliver. It doesn't appear to be travelable, or at least safely that is."

Rachel crossed her arms irritated.

"Well this is _just_ perfect." her said sarcastically. "_Now_ what do we do?"

Matt put his map away, looking at everyone, even Emie who was still clung onto him.

"Okay guys," he told everyone, "we've all been through a lot and maybe this is a good chance to settle down for a little and relax while we have the chance. There's no sense in getting upset at something we can't change. I spoke with Amber and she said our suite is finally open, so how about we all go upstairs and-"

"You!"

Matt looked behind everyone standing in front of him, being cut off by a young male in a white windbreaker with teal stripes. Looking exhausted, he stomped over in the direction of Matt with his finger pointed at him, creating a sense with everyone in the Pokemon center lobby staring.

"Shooting somebody with a tranquilizer is a cheap move!" Jimmy yelled at him. Matt looked at him confused with Bomber doing the same. Darrell and Doug awkwardly looked away innocently, acting like they had nothing to do with shooting Jimmy in the butt with a dart on accident.

"Who's this guy?" Bomber mumbled to Matt. He sighed, shaking his head at Jimmy.

"Look Jared-"

"Jimmy!" Jimmy roared. "My name's Jimmy, dammit!"

"Okay, whatever," Matt sighed, "look, I have no idea what the hell you're yelling about and frankly I don't care. I'm tired and just wanna relax."

"_You're_ tired?!" Jimmy raved. "So am I! I've been running around some god forsaken forest thanks to some faceless freak in a suit! And I'm also tired of being made a fool by you! I'm challenging you to a rematch!"

Matt sighed, not in the mood for this crap. His Pokemon however seemed irritated by Jimmy, ready for action.

"I don't care who you are." Bomber told Jimmy. "You don't have the right to act like a jerk to my trainer."

Jimmy shot Bomber a dirty look.

"Did I say I was talking to you, bird brain?" Jimmy snarled. Matt felt Shade getting restless inside him.

"_Nobody talks to him like that!"_ she shouted inside Matt's mind. _"So help me, I'm gonna rip this guy a new asshole!"_

_"Calm down, Shade._" Matt told her. "_I don't like this guy anymore than you do, but I don't want you losing your cool._"

"Don't talk to Matt like a meany face, you...you...meany!" Emie said grabbing onto Matt's hand. Jimmy started laughing at her.

"You've gotta be kidding me." he laughed. "She talks now too? God, she sounds retarded."

Emie's face grew red with Sissy gripping onto her bokuto handle.

"Nobody insults her but me!" Sissy hollered at him.

"Shut up, Mutt." Jimmy said harshly to her. "Don't you have something else to do like chase your tail or something?"

Rachel took a step forward and got in Jimmy's face.

"Keep talking shit and you're gonna have your nuts removed through your mouth!" she growled. Jimmy smirked back at her unimpressed.

"Oh, it's flat chest again." he laughed. "And what are you going to do if I don't stop talking?"

Rachel's eyes dilated, becoming silent.

"...What did you call me?" she asked him. Jimmy sneered in her direction.

"You heard me, flat chest."

Rachel blinked, quickly pulling her fist back suddenly. Laurence grabbed onto her arm before she could strike, holding her back. With his free hand, he adjusted his tie.

"Please forgive me, my Lady," he told her politely, "I feel that it would be improper for violence just yet. Allow me to demonstrate."

He made her lower her arm while moving her aside. Laurence stepped in front of Jimmy with everyone watching as he politely smiled at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Jimmy asked confused by the pale man in the suit. Laurence kept smiling, even at Jimmy's rudeness.

"No one of importance," he responded. "however, I disapprove of your harsh disposition towards my mistress and her friends. It's not very nice to go insulting people, you know."

"Like I give a shit what you think." Jimmy told him. "I'll do whatever the hell I want."

Laurence kept smiling.

"You remind me of a boy I once knew." Laurence told him. He put his finger on his forehead, thinking back years and years ago. "In fact, I believe it was actually _here_ in Pewter city when it happened. He had a similar attitude like yours, however, I couldn't really blame him."

"And why is that?" Jimmy asked half caring.

Laurence kept smiling with his grin getting larger.

"Because I was killing his family." he responded.

Everyone grew dead silent, staring at Laurence with worry. Jimmy pulled his head back a little, not sure if he were lying or not. Laurence starting chuckling, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Now that I think about it I feel sorry for him." Laurence said with his smile still prevailing. "He didn't know what to do when I tore his father's arm off. Or was it his mother's arm?..." Laurence thought about it for a bit, soon remembering what had happened. "Wait, no it _was_ his father's arm. I remember distinctly so because I had already torn his mothers heart out and ate it in front of him. Where was I? Oh! That's right, I had just ripped off his father's arm and tossed it on the floor. My men were busy dismembering the family's bodies afterward while I dealt with the son, who you resemble almost perfectly by the way."

Laurence began to laugh loudly at his own thoughts as everyone just stared mortified.

"This young son, about your age, naturally tried to raise a sword against me. After I cut his hand off for daring to defy me, I cut open his stomach while he was still breathing. You wouldn't believe how much he bled before he finally died. I was so impressed by his bravery that I took that very hand I cut off from him and put it in a jar. Come to think of it, I think I gave it to one of my soldiers as a present for their good work."

Laurence let out a sigh fueled by nostalgia.

"Forgive me," he apologized. "I didn't mean to ramble like that; it's a bad habit of mine."

Nobody knew what to say as Laurence put his hand on Jimmy's shoulder. To Jimmy, Laurence's touch was freezing cold. The purple in Laurence's eyes shimmered as he smiled at him.

"How about you come around another day when my mistress and her friends have settled in for a while. I'm sure Matt would be more than willing to have a rematch with you then."

Jimmy just stared at him wide eyed, nodding his head slowly. He backed away from Laurence, who let go of his shoulder. Keeping eye contact with him, he backpedaled away. After a few steps, Jimmy spun around and ran for his life out of the Pokemon center. Laurence once again adjusted his tie with smile. He turned to everyone, seeing them all staring at him disturbed. Doug was so freaked out he for some reason didn't feel sick anymore from being kissed by a man. The only one who wasn't necessarily freaked out was Darrell, who just stared at him in a whole new light. Actually, he sorta found a new respect for him.

"Shall we head for the suite?" he asked. Rachel looked at Laurence with a small and forced smirk on her face.

"That was...just you lying to scare him, right?" she asked. Laurence chuckled with one hand holding onto his elbow as he rubbed his chin with the other.

"Of course, dear." he told her. "I never put that lad's hand in a jar. That would have been just absurd."

"Wait," Otto said slowly, "so-"

"Let's just go upstairs already." Rachel interrupted, heading for the elevators. Nobody argued with her decision, gladly heading in the direction of where the elevator was after Otto grabbed his things.

Being given suite number two, Matt slid the key card through the door lock, opening it up. Everyone walked inside, seeing that it was just like the one in Viridian. The flat screen television was on the eastern wall with a couch facing it, looking like a square that was missing one side. The kitchen was also the same with a Refurbisher machine near it. Just like the last place, there were two doors on the eastern and western walls, being the rooms of the suite.

"Okay," Matt said, pointing at the farthest room on the eastern wall. "I call the room down there for my Pokemon and myself."

"I call the one over there." Rachel said pointing to the far room on the western wall. Otto looked over to the other remaining one on the west wall.

"I'll take that one." he said pointing at it.

"Then I guess Doug and I are gonna take the last one." he said motioning to the eastern wall room nearest to them. Without any other instruction, they all gladly moved throughout the suite in their own directions an intentions. Matt, Emie, Sissy, as well as Shade who was still inside Matt, made their ways to their room with Rachel and Laurence making their way to theirs. Doug and Darrell did the same with only Bomber and Otto left in the main part of the suite.

With his backpack hung over his shoulder, Otto made his his way over to the large television and set his backpack down. He zipped it open with Bomber wandering over behind the couch, lowering himself down to rest his legs. Having a large body, his head still was able to see over the couch, watching as Otto took out a strange device with a controller.

It didn't take Otto long to plug his ultimate game console into the television. He had made it a while back, calling it the UGC for short. It had almost every known video game known to man loaded onto it's hard drive, both old and new. Grabbing the remote that rested on the stand beneath the TV on the wall, he turned it on and headed over to the couch with his wireless controller in his hand.

Plopping down, Otto went through the list of games he had, selecting one that read: **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time**. He selected it with Bomber watching the intro play. He cocked his head at the screen, wondering who on earth the strange man in green was. He looked at Otto, seeing the same dark green color on his clothes, even on his bandana tied on his head.

"I've never seen this before." Bomber said to him "What is this?"

Otto turned his head, looking at Bomber who was still sitting behind the couch.

"Seriously?" he said surprised. "You've never heard of Zelda before?"

"No," Bomber said, still watching the character in green riding on a horse. "who is he?"

Otto narrowed his gaze at Bomber with a sigh. The classic misunderstanding of the title and the actual character's name proved that Bomber seriously had never heard of it before. He couldn't really blame him though considering they were both from different dimensions.

"That's just the name of the game." Otto explained. "The character's name is Link, not Zelda."

Bomber looked confused.

"Then why isn't it called "The Legend of Link?"

Otto laughed, pressing start and loading a new game.

"It's complicated." he told him. "You don't mind watching me play, do you?"

"I don't mind at all." Bomber told him cheerfully. "I'm actually rather curious."

And with that, the introduction of the game started playing.

Matt yawned, tossing his backpack onto the floor beside the large bed with Emie leaping onto the mattress. She rolled around playfully, extending her arms and legs, trying to mimic the sound Matt made when he yawned. Sissy took her bokuto from her side, laying it near Matt's backpack, sitting down on the edge of the bed with her hands in her lap. Matt glanced out the window of the room, seeing that it was now starting to get dark outside. He raised his arm up, smelling that he smelt bad.

"Ugh," he put his arms down. "I think I could use a shower too."

Emie's ears perked up, getting excited. She rolled over to her stomach with her cleavage showing through the top of her dark red tank top. Her upper left tooth protruded in her joy as she smiled.

"Emie wants to shower with Matt!" she said giddily. Sissy frowned, glancing at Matt with a glare.

"_Oh god, yes..."_ Shade thought to herself unintentionally with Matt hearing her thoughts just as clear. Matt looked unsure back at Emie, momentarily glancing at Sissy.

"I don't know, sweetheart." he told her. "I don't think Sissy would like that."

Emie frowned, looking at Sissy, who had her arms crossed and her eyes shut closed.

"Oh..." Emie said saddened. "Why?..."

"Well," Matt said not sure what he should say. "I think she'd...um, feel a little left out."

Sissy huffed as if what he said were some cruel joke. Emie's face brightened when she got an idea.

"Sissy could join us!" Emie gleamed. Matt felt Shade within him growing excited beyond words. Sissy shook her head flustered.

"I will do no such thing!" She hollered.

_"Oh, please, __**PLEASE**__, shower with the two of them..."_ Shade thought within his head, unaware the Matt could hear everything she was thinking on the account that they were sharing thoughts. "_I really hope Matt forgot about me and showers with those two. Emie's a bombshell, but I'm sorta curious as to what that Growlithe looks like without her dress-thingy on. From what I can tell she doesn't have that big of boobs, but chances are she's got a nice ass..."_

_"She does have a nice ass."_ Matt thought back to her haughtily, making Shade startled. _"You realize I just heard everything you were thinking, right?"_

There was a silence within Matt mind.

_"Hello,"_ Shade thought within his mind in a monotone voice. _"I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. BEEEP."_

_"That ain't gonna work, you pervert."_ Matt through back to her amused.

_"...Fuck..."_ she swore inside his head. Like magic, she exited his body with Emie jumping up from surprise on the bed. Her face grew even happier, jumping from the bed and hugging Shade.

"Shade-Shade!" Emie beamed happily as she clung to her. "You're back!"

"Unfortunately..." Shade mumbled to herself. "I'll be on the couch if anybody needs me..."

Depressed from being unable to see either Sissy or Emie naked, Shade drug her feet towards the door and walked through it. Literally. Being a ghost Pokemon had it's perks, phasing through doors and walls being one of them.

Sissy sighed, still sitting on the bed upset.

"I don't care." she told Matt. "Go ahead and shower with Emie if you want. It's not like it matters."

Matt looked at her with sad eyes.

"Sissy," he told her, "if it bothers you so much I won't."

"I said I don't care." she repeated, standing up from the edge of the bed and moving to the side of it. She laid down on her side with her back facing Emie and Matt. He sighed, looking at Emie.

"Okay, Emie," he told her. "let's get cleaned up."

Emie jumped up and down with her chest bouncing along with her.

"Yay!" She giggled. "Emie and Matt get to shower together!"

Matt headed for the bathroom with Emie following. Before entering, he looked at Sissy one last time with a frown, still with her back facing him. He sighed once more, entering the bathroom with Emie, anxious to shower.

He closed the door behind them with Emie not hesitating when it came to taking off her clothes. She yanked down her gray shorts and threw off her tank top. Matt started taking off his pants as he watched Emie pull down her panties, kicking them to the side, nearly tripping over when she did so.

Matt pulled his shirt off, seeing Emie tugging helplessly at her bra. Unsure as to how the stupid thing came off, she kept yanking on it with grunts and huffs. Matt put his arms on her shoulders, turning her around with Emie allowing him to help her. He unhooked the bra with Emie pulling it off of her nearly the second he did so. Matt laughed, seeing Emie proudly toss the bra to the floor.

"You really don't like wearing clothes, do you?" he snickered. Emie turned to face him again with her ample breasts completely exposed. Matt kept eye contact with her as she shook her head with a smile that had her upper canine tooth sticking out as it usually did. She giggled when Matt poked her belly button, soon taking his underwear off. He kicked them off onto the floor along with his socks and shoes as he headed over to the shower with Emie right behind him, following with a spring in her step.

Matt and Emie entered the shower, turning it on with a surge of warm water coming out at them. Emie sneezed when water got in her nose, shaking her head with her ears folding back a little. The only thing she had on still was her collar, which was water proof, along with it being the only thing she was happy to wear. The bell on it made a weird noise as it 'jingled' with water getting into it.

Matt grabbed for the shampoo on the side of the shoulder, popping it open and spurting it some into the palm of his hand. He proceeded to lather the top of Emie's head with it, soon after motioning his hands down to her shoulders to lather more onto her.

"I should probably just stick to using shampoo on the rest of your body as well." he told her. "I'm not sure soap would be all that great for your fur."

She giggled as Emie allowed him to turn her around and lather her back with more shampoo from the complementary bottle of shampoo already in the shower. Moving his hands up and down her back made her coo, sounding comforted by his touch alone. She turned around when he stopped, watching him put shampoo in his own hair.

Emie stared at him with her smile soon fading. It was if she had suddenly became sad. Out of nowhere, she hugged him with Matt feeling the warmth of her body add to the warmth of the shower. She held onto him tightly with no sexual intent. Matt wasn't sure what was wrong, seeing her stare into his eyes with sadness.

"Are Matt and Emie lovers or only friends?" she asked him innocently.

Matt didn't say anything, looking back at her with a frown. He sighed, putting his hand behind her ear and scratched. She looked down with a frown, moving her head up against his chest and rested it there as he continued to scratch behind her ear. He continued to say nothing to her as she held onto him with the side of her head against his torso, still with him scratching behind her ear as the water ran down their backs.

Rachel was getting ready to take a shower herself, busily searching through her backpack for spare clothes, having brought a few pairs of everything before embarking on the journey with Matt. Laurence stood by her side as she pulled out her things.

"Will you be needing anything from me, my Lady?" he asked her politely. She pulled out a yellow shirt with her giving him a warm smile.

"I'm fine," she told him, "but thank you for asking."

He smiled back at her, giving a slight bow.

"I'll take my leave then." he told her, heading out the bedroom door. He watched him leave, unsure what to think of him. He was a true gentleman, but apparently had a sick sense of humor. Telling Jimmy that awful lie about killing a family and dismembering them was a bit much, even if he was just trying to scare him off. But, even though she knew it couldn't be true, what if he were serious?

"Don't be an idiot." She told herself with her clothes in hand, making her way into the bathroom that was in her room. She closed and locked the door behind her, setting her fresh clothes on the large counter with two sinks and giant mirror on the wall above it. Rachel started taking off her clothes, kicking her shoes to the side and working on tugging her socks off.

She couldn't help but think about what Laurence had said, even if it was just some fake story he made up. Was it even possible for someone to do that to someone? Rachel thought about it, completely undressing. Her train of thought stopped when she stared at her bare chest in the mirror. Sighing, she frowned at the reflection she saw, moving her hands up to her torso and placing them over her small breasts.

"Why couldn't I have been born with a C-cup?" she mumbled to herself. "I'd even be fine with a B-cup. Anything would be better than these puny things."

With her poor self image getting the best of her, she moved to the shower, entered it, and turned it on with water shooting out from the nozzle. The sudden chill made her shiver, quickly turning handle of the shower a little more to warm the water. Her muscles relaxed finally as the temperature of the water warmed up. She let her hands hang down, lowering her head down to let the water run down her back.

While doing so, she stared at her legs, getting a little more irritated. She never liked the way they looked, feeling that they were too twig like and lacking form. She put her hands on her hips, moving them up and down to feel the curve of her body. She had a natural hour glass figure, but it wasn't anything that great in her opinion. All she saw in herself were the flaws of her body.

She washed her body off, washed her hair, and repeated the process about three times, making sure she was squeaky clean. The entire time she had her mind wandering, thinking about how worthless she felt. Even if she didn't fess up to it, Rachel was a pessimist through and through. Everything she did was wrong in her eyes and every mistake she made was unforgivable.

Rachel felt guilty that she treated Matt like shit, even if he was used to her doing it by now. Even when they had been dating she'd constantly rag on him about everything. She'd point out his flaws, hoping that way he wouldn't realize her own. Every insult she threw at him was just her way of possibly distracting him from realizing that, in her opinion, she wasn't good enough for him. In the end, it didn't matter. She finally couldn't take being with him anymore due to the feeling of not being good enough, dumping him on the spot, telling him she wanted nothing to do with him.

Surprisingly, Matt didn't just abandon her like she thought he was going to do. Instead, he begged her to at least stay friends. Even if she were flattered by it, she pretended that she would do it only for his sake and not her own. In reality, she needed him as a friend more than he needed her as a friend. Sure, Matt sucked when it came to finances, but was always there when she felt like shit. He'd pick her up when she was feeling down, making her feel like her life had meaning.

Even after the romance between them was gone and after countless boyfriends afterwords, he was still there for her. Actually, he was the one who comforted her when her relationships crashed and burned like they always did. None of them usually lasted for more than a few weeks, with all of them being just as bad as the last.

Rachel realized she was spacing out in her thoughts, finally forcing herself to turn off the shower water with water dripping from her body. She stepped out and closed the shower door behind her. Not bothering to grab the towel on the rack nearest to her, she stood in front of the mirror and stared at her naked self. The longer she stared the more depressed she became.

To Rachel, she was not only unattractive on the outside, but she was on the inside as well. She was nothing but a burden to everyone, making everyone's lives harder than they needed to be. In truth, she thought she was better off dead. A tear landed on the bathroom floor as she continued to stare at the figure she saw in the mirror, almost repulsed by how much she hated it.

"I was kissed...by a man..." Doug repeated for what Darrell had counted to be the ninth time. Busily going through his duffel bag, Darrell sat on the floor with Doug lying on the bed in disgust. What Laurence had said to Darrell stuck in his mind.

"A man of masks..." he repeated to himself silently. He stopped arranging things in the duffel bag, leaning back against the edge of the bed that was positioned against his upper back. He looked up at the ceiling not sure what to think anymore. "Hey, Doug? Can I ask you something."

"Sure..." his friend told him, staring at the ceiling as well as he laid on his back on the bed.

"You remember how we met?"

Doug nearly snorted from the laugh he made.

"How could I forget?" he said. "You literally ran into me after you were running like hell. Nearly got shot too thanks to you"

Darrell chuckled, remembering as if it had happened yesterday. He was running from a farmer with a loaded shotgun in his hand in the small town Doug and Darrell lived in at the time. Darrell wasn't looking at where he was going, bashing into Doug as he was trying to escape. The farmer assumed Doug was with him, taking pot shots at the two of them, soon both running side by side through the small little town.

"You ever regret meeting?" Darrell asked him. Doug sat up and looked at him.

"Why would you ever say something like that?" he asked him upset. "You're my best friend, of course I don't regret meeting you."

Darrell laughed, shrugging as he reached inside the duffel bag once again.

"Thanks to me you got sucked into a life of crime." Darrell told him. "Not many people would have stuck with a Shadow Assassin from Team Rocket."

There was a silent pause with Doug looking at the back of Darrell's head.

"Let me ask you a question then." Doug said. "Do you regret losing your rank thanks to your good for nothing friend?"

Darrell pulled out a gray mask made of iron. There were holes for eyes with a line scrapped across the front of it, sorta looking like a line for a mouth. The multiple leather straps that were on the back of it were still good with the mask itself being in excellent condition. He held it in his hand, reaching in with his other and pulling out a black nine millimeter pistol of his, holding it in his hand and remembering what things used to be like..

"I don't regret meeting you." Darrell assured him. "You're the best friend I've ever had. At least you never shot at me like half the people I met in my days working in the higher ranks of Team Rocket."

"With me booting you down to grunt status thanks to me unable to handle anything on my own." Doug added with a sigh.

Darrell set the gun back down in the duffel bag with the mask still in his hand, standing up from the floor and looking at his friend with a serious look in his eyes.

"It's not your fault." he told him. "If anything I should be thanking you for that. Things were bound to catch up to me sooner or later." Darrell stared at his mask, seeing the stoic expression of the 'face' on it. "I'm surprised I lived long enough to be demoted in the first place."

Darrell thought to himself, still holding the mask in his hand with his grip tightening. How Laurence knew he used to be a Shadow Assassin for Team Rocket was beyond him. He finally forced himself to loosen his grip on the mask, letting it fall back into the duffel bag.

"Just be glad you're done with that life." Doug told him trying to be positive about the past. Darrell stared at the mask that now stared back at him as it rested in his duffel bag next to his gun.

"I hope so..." Darrell said quietly to himself.


	37. Chapter 37

_**Chapter 37**_

"How very strange..." Laurence said as Otto, who was still playing Ocarina of Time, kept doing rolls in the fields with the young adventurer Link. After excusing himself from his mistress, Laurence had causally sat down on the side of the couch with his feet side by side and his hand on his chin. The entire time he watched Otto play the game with rapt attention, making him curious as to how such a young boy could possibly be the proclaimed hero. All the children he had met when he was still alive and human either trembled before him or were slaughtered by his hand.

Shade had also joined in on the watching after leaving Matt's room, sitting right next to Otto with her knees close to her chest and her legs under her long shirt. With her hands on her ankles, she leaned forward onto her knees for support as she watched Otto start fighting another monster. In addition to Shade and Laurence, Bomber was still sitting behind the couch, able to see perfectly from his position with his head peaked over the couch. For some odd reason, Laurence began chuckling as he watched Link leap into the air with his sword swinging downward.

"His stance is admirable," Laurence said aloud, "considering he's a child. Although, if I waved a sword like that when I was his age I wouldn't have lived as long as I did."

Otto momentarily stopped playing after he killed the monster he was fighting, looking over at Laurence surprised. Shade didn't bother looking, instead she actually looked in a different direction. In her short time span of staying with the Gastlys, she'd heard a lot of stories about Laurence. None of them were pretty.

"How old are you exactly?" Otto asked him. Laurence smiled charmingly at him, indulging in another chuckle.

"Old enough." he responded vaguely. "Let's just say that I had plenty of experience in combat when I was still alive, and plenty more in my current state."

Otto kept staring at Laurence, soon with Link on screen looking down at his boots and kicking them against the ground like he usually did if the player was idle for long enough.

"What kind of combat experience?" Otto once again asked, now with Bomber as well looking at Laurence. Moving his head back and closing his eyes, Laurence began to count on his fingers on his right hand, reusing each of his digits multiple times. He reopened his eyes, with a half frown.

"I think a more simple question to answer would be what kind of combat I don't have experience with."

Otto blinked, not sure if Laurence was just 'joking' again like he had been downstairs in the lobby of the Pokemon center.

"Um, okay," Otto said with little emotion. "may I ask what combat experience you lack?"

Laurence smiled, nodding his head and putting his hand on his chin once more. He thought about it, not taking nearly as long as the last time.

"In all honesty, the only things I've never really learned how to use are guns." he admitted. "I've never liked the things, even now after they've been 'simplified.' A waste of time in my opinion. Another would probably be standard boxing. Never could quiet get the hang out it, considering I never had anyone to practice with on the account of being a Gengar now. Most folk would probably just try and let me win so they wouldn't offend me."

Otto had his doubts, wondering if what Laurence was saying had any truth behind it, but feared upsetting someone with his skill and raw power would be unwise. Even if he didn't vocalize it, Laurence could almost read his mind by the way his face looked.

"You know," Otto said, "Matt could most likely teach you a few pointers. He's an amateur boxer and I'm sure he wouldn't mind showing you a thing or two."

Laurence smiled once again.

"Really?" he said surprised. "I just might have to, assuming he'd be okay with it, of course. Just how good is he?"

"Fairly good," Shade said before Otto could say anything, "when I was searching through his memories I saw him in a _lot_ of fights. He's got a nasty left punch and likes to fool his opponents into believing that he favors his right arm instead of his left."

Otto sighed, getting used to being cut off by then, going back to playing his game. At that moment, the door to Matt's room opened with Sissy exiting. Laurence saw her holding her bokuto by the middle, handling it as if it were some stick by her side. The sadness in her eyes spoke for themselves, making Laurence wonder what was wrong.

"Is anything the matter, dear?" he asked. The word 'dear' made her ears twitch, looking up surprised and turning to face him. She gave a weak shake of her head.

"N-no," she lied. "I guess I'm just a little tired..."

She sluggishly headed over to the couch, sitting down on the vacant side, holding her bokuto in her lap. Laurence stared at her, seeing the all too familiar expression of uncertainty. Her eyes were unfocused, her hands kept readjusting atop her bokuto she held in her lap, yet her feet were like stones: unmoving and stationary. Clearly she was thinking heavily about something.

Rachel exited her room in similar jeans, yellow shirt, and damp hair that she let loose, not bothering to tie it back. Forcing herself to not seem depressed about her self image, she made her way over to the couch next to Laurence and plopped down with her arms crossed.

"Otto already started nerding out, huh?" she snickered. "Going in withdraws from not having your brain fried from video games?"

"Shut up..." he growled, making link do a back flip.

A raindrop hit against window in the main room of the suite, soon with another following. Rachel looked around the room, soon glancing over to Sissy.

"Where's Matt?" She asked her. Without even looking up, Sissy's eyes seemed even sadder than before.

"He's taking a shower..." she informed her with a painful tone of voice. Rachel's eyebrow raised, beginning to wonder where everyone else was who hadn't already come out to the couch.

"What about Emie?" Rachel asked once again, wondering if maybe she was taking a nap or possibly hiding playfully behind the couch next to Bomber. Sissy's mask of being fine cracked slightly with a small frown appearing on her face.

"She's taking a shower..." she told. Rachel, not putting two and two together at first, looked confused.

"Wait, I thought you said Matt was taking a-" She stopped, feeling a little awkward in her realization. "Oh..."

There was a silence with only the sounds of Link yelling as he swung his sword in the game.

"What about Doug and Darrell?" Rachel asked everyone trying to quickly change the subject. Laurence grimaced at the sound of Darrell's name.

"If I may, Mistress," Laurence said to her seriously, "I'd advise you to leave them be."

"And why is that?" she asked him, confused as to why he was getting tense again. He sighed, making eye contact with her finally.

"I feel it would be disrespectful to lie to you," he told her, "but the matter is fairly personal. I've just never been fond of those who represent the very thing I've risen above from and chose to not associate myself with Darrell's type."

Rachel wasn't even going to start questioning what the hell he meant by his long winded explanation, glancing over to the window with another raindrop hitting against it. She sighed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.

"So _now_ what do we do?" she asked everyone. "Do we just wait around and do nothing until we're allowed to head through Mt. Moon?"

"What else _can_ we do?" Bomber told her from behind the couch. "Maybe for now we should focus on collecting our thoughts and relax a while. We've still got a ways to go before finding Bill and we might as well make the best of the situation at hand."

Sissy's grip tightened around the handle of her bokuto as she held it in her lap, hiding her face from everyone as she was reminded of Bill. More importantly, what was going to happen _after_ they found him.

_ "I love you Sissy."_ She remembered Matt telling her. _"That's why I'm not going back home."_

Was that even the case anymore?...

Sissy stood up and walked past the view of the television, making her way to the door. Without saying another word she left, leaving her bokuto on the couch. Another raindrop hit the window. Then another. And another. Soon it began to rain full on, getting heavier and heavier the more time passed.

Sissy made her way out of the Pokemon center and began to walk the streets of Pewter City, glad that it was raining.

That way, nobody would tell she was crying.


	38. Chapter 38

_**Chapter 38**_

_**For**_ the next two days, all it did was rain. Not once had it let up or even showed signs of possibly stopping soon. It was an absolute downpour, leaving everyone with more time to lounge around then they had anticipated on. The group mostly stayed inside the suite, rarely leaving. The only one who did leave on a regular basis, excluding Doug and Darrell, was Sissy who insisted on walking in the hail of rain. Matt couldn't understand why.

She had been acting strange those past few days: eating very little, not saying much, and to top it off refused to sleep in the same bed as him, even if she were to be in her beast form. Sissy told him that the bed felt "uncomfortable" so she decided to sleep in her beast form on the floor, curled up in a ball near the corner of the room. How could the floor have been any more pleasant to sleep on than the bed?

Otto was acting really odd too. All he did was play video games. Every time Matt came out to see what he was doing, sure enough he'd find his friend with the controller glued in his hands. He'd switch games regularly. One hour he'd be playing Zelda, then he'd be playing Super Mario Bros the next. With literally almost every game he could play at his disposal, he had almost too much to choose from. And yet, the look on his face showed that he was depressed. Matt hadn't ever seen him so upset before.

Doug and Darrell would be out on a daily basis doing odd jobs according to Rachel, who'd been literally pacing back and forth during both days. She was restless, unable to sit still for even a minute. Laurence would watch her uneasiness, worried for his Mistress, and yet, was inspired by her enthusiasm to get their goal accomplished.

Shade and Bomber could be found sitting behind the couch playing card games along with Emie who would have to constantly be reminded the rules of Go Fish. It was hard for her to grasp the concept, reveling even more of her 'uneducated' side. On nearly four different occasions Shade suggested 'simpler' games, such as strip poker. Bomber kept telling her no with Emie not understanding why he wouldn't let them play. She couldn't possibly fathom that he was only trying to not have her molested by Shade.

It was the third day of being in Pewter city. Matt groggily opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling as he laid in bed. He found Emie curled up next to him in her beast form, softly breathing in her deep sleep. Being seven in the morning, Matt thought he'd be the only one up. His assumption was proven wrong when he realized that Sissy wasn't sleeping on the floor.

Matt sighed, slowly moving his legs to the side of the bed. Only sleeping with his pants on, he scratched his bare chest with a yawn. He'd forgotten what it was like to take things easy for once. Still, there was a knot in his chest from an unexplainable feeling he'd been having ever since they'd all gotten to the suite. Everyone was either on edge or acting more strange than usual. Honestly, it was starting to get on his nerves. For once he'd like to wake up without the feeling of drama in the air.

Grabbing his shirt that was in a wad on the floor, he slid it over his body. It felt slightly cool against his skin due to his body temperature being high since he'd just been bundled under his bed sheets. He stood up and grabbed his belt from the floor, slipping it through the belt loops of his pants. He grabbed for Bomber's Pokeball, feeling as if it were empty.

**As stated before, Pokemon and their Trainers have a special bound. Such as sensing when distressed or even their presence in general, a trainer can tell which Pokeball is which on the account of feeling it's Pokemon's 'aura' within them. In addition, if the Pokeball is set on Green or lower the Pokemon in said Pokeball has the ability to exit it's ball at any given time.**

Matt stumbled forward being caught off guard from the unexplainable narration he had just heard, thrashing his head around.

"Seriously?!" he growled, looking for the source of said narration. "I'm not in the mood for this shit!"

Emie moved in her slumber from Matt's outburst, but wasn't woken. Irritated, Matt made his way towards his room door in his bare feet, feeling the soft, white carpet beneath him tickling his toes.

_**Shade**_ and Bomber were eying each other down with the board game of Monopoly between them.

"You can't go backwards!" Bomber told her sternly. "That's cheating!"

Shade glared at him, moving her board piece back to where it was supposed to be.

"You're no fun..." she huffed, folding her arms together. Bomber lowered his head, feeling almost guilted that he were making her play by the rules.

"I'm just playing by the rules." he told her with a sigh.

"Well the rules are stupid!" She snarled. "I hate this dumb game."

Bomber once again sighed, looking over at the kitchen where all the other board games and cards were.

"Wanna play anything else then?" he asked her. "Maybe scrabble?"

Shade shook her head unsure.

"Nah," she said, "last time we tried that Emie nearly choked on the pieces and thought that 'trbz' was a word. And if she finds out we played without her while she was asleep she'd probably be hurt."

"Good point." Bomber said with a shrug of his large wings. Shade flopped onto her back with her legs crossed, nearly exposing herself in front of Bomber unintentionally.

"I'm honestly bored of all of these games we borrowed from the lobby." Shade admitted. "We've nearly played all of them. And you keep saying we can't play strip poker."

"Considering I'm not wearing clothes in the first place you'd already win by default." Bomber told her. Shade thought about it, soon giggling.

"Oh yeah," she remembered. "that's right. You're naked."

Bomber's face flushed red behind his plumage.

"Well, technically yes," he said awkwardly. "but I'm in my beast form so I've got my feathers covering everything, so it's not like I'm exposed."

"You're right," Shade told him sitting up with a seductive smirk. "it just makes it all the more kinkier."

Bomber's face grew even redder.

"I don't think I wanna play anymore games with you..." Bomber said uncomfortably. Shade smiled at him, throwing herself suddenly around his neck and embracing him with a playful hug.

"Oh, come on." she teased. "I'm just kidding around."

"Sometimes I wonder..." Bomber said not convinced. Shade moved closer to the side of his head.

"Maybe you're right..." she whispered playfully. "Maybe I'm being serious. If anyone could turn me straight, it'd be _you_"

H-hey!" Bomber panicked as she leached herself onto him. "C-cut it out! It isn't funny anymore, Shade!"

Bomber was busy struggling with Shade while Rachel busily paced back and forth in front of the door. Otto, currently playing Dead Rising, grumbled to himself as his character Frank West was busily fighting off a small bunch of zombies. Laurence was also sitting on the couch a few feet away from him, reading a book with no cover illustration on it (Emie called it a "smart people book"). He'd been reading it for the past few days, hardly setting it down. Considering he didn't need to eat or sleep, as least not for a while, he hadn't moved from that spot unless Rachel needed his assistance, which she didn't. She was too busy pacing.

"Stupid zombie." Otto mumbled. "Where the hell is the orange juice?..."

Laurence turned a page with the sounds of struggling being heard behind the couch.

"Would somebody please help get Shade off of me?!" Bomber begged as Shade playfully kept rubbing her face against his.

"What?" she jokingly teased with a fake sniffle. "You don't like me?"

"Yes-I mean no-I mean- gah, just please stop doing that!"

"Don't fight it, my sexy avian lover." she joked with a seductive tone of voice. "You know you want me just as much as I want you!"

Taking her joke much to far, she began rubbing on his large chest, making his body feel funny from her touch.

"S-stop!" he begged her. Bomber would have easily been able to swat her away with his sheer wing power alone, but being a nice guy, he was afraid he'd hurt her. She kept rubbing his chest, moving her hand up to the side of his large head.

"You're cute even if you're a guy." she winked.

Laurence momentarily lowered his book, looking over behind the couch.

"Shade," he said properly. "I would appreciate it if you would leave Bomber alone. He's already politely asked you to stop multiple times and I feel it would be disrespectful to continue such inappropriate behavior. Wouldn't you agree?"

Shade stopped, getting a chill up her back. She quickly let go of Bomber and backed away, soon with her fear of Laurence coming back to her.

"Y-yes sir." she stuttered. Laurence went back to his book with Bomber feeling awkward to even be in the same room as Shade. Quickly rushing towards the door, Bomber nearly knocked over Rachel on accident.

"If Matt needs me tell him I went to the lobby!" he said with his voice sounding panicked. Awkwardly opening the door with his wing, he pushed the handle down and quickly exited with the suite, with the door slamming closed behind him. Shade frowned, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. She flicked her game piece she'd been using while they were playing Monopoly.

"I was just kidding around..." she said to herself upset that she'd offended Bomber.

She went unheard, finally with Rachel letting out a loud groan.

"I'm sick of just waiting around here!" she said angry. "Why the hell can't we pass through Mt. Moon already?!"

Laurence flipped the page of his book once more, not removing his gaze from the printed text.

"We must be patent, my Lady." he told her. "All good things take time."

"But this feels like it's been taking _forever_!" Rachel roared. "Why can't they do their job already! I'm tired of doing nothing!"

"Would you quit your bitching for once?" Otto finally spoke, making Frank West throw plates at zombies. "That's all you've been doing since we've got here."

Rachel napped her neck in his direction with her eyes blazing.

"And all you've been doing is playing games the entire time!" Rachel came back. Otto paused the game, clenching the controller so hard he was shaking.

Matt exited out his room with his eyes still caked from sleep. He walked past Shade who was sitting in a ball depressed. He stood beside Rachel, wondering what was going on.

"Why the heck are you guys yelling?" Matt yawned with a hint of irritation.

Otto had finally had it. Enraged, he threw his controller on the couch so hard it bounced before landing on the floor.

"You know what, fuck both of you! Neither you or Matt have given a single damn about what I've been doing or even heard what I've been saying since I've got here! The two of you are always bitching about your problems and treating me like crap! I'm sorry you're flatter than a board and I'm sorry Matt can't get his shit together because he's the biggest fucking womanizer in the world!"

Otto's fist tightened, pointing his finger at Rachel and Matt, who were both completely blown away by Otto's outburst. Both of them stared at Otto in shock, now with Laurence even setting down his book in surprise.

"The past two days all I've been hearing is you're bored and you're tired of waiting." Otto continued. "If you're so fed up with doing nothing then do something productive, you whiny bitch! And I swear to god, if I hear Matt start crying because he fucked Emie and Sissy without thinking things through I'm gonna break his god damn neck! I'm _so_ sorry you have woman bursting down his door to try and get in his pants Matt and I'm _so_ sorry Rachel that you lash out at everyone when you don't get your way like the overgrown child you are! For all I care Matt can keep fucking everyone like the man whore he is and you can go stare in the mirror, cutting your wrists over how pathetic your figure is!"

Otto stormed over to Matt, reaching for the envelope sticking out of his front pocket. He pulled it out, taking a few bills from it. He threw the envelope down to the floor, clutching a sum of cash in his hands.

"Consider this my 'dealing with jackasses' fee!" he yelled in both of their faces, storming over to the door. He left the suite, slamming the door behind him with Matt and Rachel standing completely still with their mouths still hung open. Neither one of them could hardly fathom what the hell had just happened. They'd never seen Otto so upset before.

"I think I'm gonna go to my room..." Rachel told everyone, surprising sounding hurt instead of angered. She drug her feet to her room, closing the door behind her softly. Matt just stood there with Laurence looking back at and forth between Rachel's room and Matt's bewildered face.

"What just happened?..." Matt asked with his eyes wide, looking lost. Laurence set down his book, frowning at Matt.

"I...I'm not sure..." Laurence told him. "I wasn't expecting so much angst from him..."

Matt made his way around the couch, passing by Shade who was now standing, looking just as surprised as everyone else.

"I...think I'm gonna go check on Emie." Shade said with the tension still lingering in the air. She lifted slightly off the ground, floating towards Matt's room and fading through his door.

Matt sat down on the couch in disbelief.

"Are you going to be alright?" Laurence asked worried for Matt, wondering if he should check on Rachel. Matt slowly bobbed his head.

"Y-yeah..." he responded. "I'll be fine...I think...Where is everyone?..."

"Doug and Darrell said they left for work, Sissy is out on another walk, and Bomber left after Shade made yet another attempt to sexually harass him."

Matt just hung his head not really paying attention to what Laurence told him, still baffled by what Otto had called him.

_**Walking**_ towards the Pokemon center, Sissy's head was hung low. She'd been constantly thinking about what Matt had told her, being his 'flame of life' and whatnot. Did she actually mean anything to him or was she just some conquest of his, being stupid enough to let him take her virginity. Even after what they had been through, she wasn't entirely sure anymore. What made her special to him? _Was_ she actually even special to him in the first place or was that too a lie?

Sissy shook her head, sick of all of the drama. She never had these issues before, and never thought she'd have to deal anything even remotely similar. In fact, in the past she'd secretly mock anyone who admitted having problems with relationship integrity. Was it karma getting back at her?

With her fur dampened from the rain, she wandered past a few people walking under an umbrella together. They were holding hands, dressed in renaissance Japanese clothing just like everyone else. With sad eyes, she watched them pass, both giving each other a quick peck on the lips. The rain hardly even effected her anymore. It's chill only complemented her emotions.

Nearing the automatic doors of the Pokemon center, she saw them open with Otto storming out of them. With his fists into balls and his eyes savagely glaring at his surroundings, he walked right past her without him even noticing she existed. She turned around and watched him stomp down the street, wondering what was wrong with him. She let out a sad sigh, entering the Pokemon center finally.

Her fur was dripping wet along with her yukata and bokuto. The sound of giggling was heard near the lounge area of the lobby. She looked up, soon surprised to see Bomber. He was next to a trainer with her Pokemon. There was a Jigglypuff in it's beast form, being a round, pink Pokemon with large blue eyes, and an Oddish, also in it's beast form, looking like a dark green ball with large leaves atop it's head with small feet and dark eyes, playing with Bomber.

The Jigglypuff had climbed on top of his head, giggling every time he'd bounce it up into the air. Sissy couldn't help but smile at it's adorable laugh. The Oddish was running around Bomber in circles, playfully bumping into his large wings when he'd stick them out. The trainer of the Pokemon also couldn't help but smile at Bomber and his kindness toward her Pokemon.

"Aaaaand BOUNCE!" Bomber said playfully, launching the Jigglypuff into the air. In mid air it giggled, landing on top of his head once more as the Oddish continued to run around him. The Jigglypuff kept giggling once again with it's eyes closed from laughing so hard.

"Jiggly!" it laughed. "Jigglypuff-puff!"

Bomber sighed, soon laughing at it's request.

"Again?" Bomber questioned unsure. "I don't want you getting sick from being bounced up and down so much."

The Oddish that was circling him stopped when Bomber playfully caught it with his wings. The Oddish giggled as Bomber pulled it close to him.

"I gotcha!" he said playfully. Purposely loosing his grasp around the Oddish, it slipped away from him, proudly 'escaping' from Bomber. Still playing along, Bomber forcibly made an 'oh-no' kind of noise you'd often hear parents use when they play with young toddlers.

"You got away!" Bomber said sounding 'surprised.' "I guess I'm not quick enough to catch you!"

"Oddish!" the Oddish giggled, running around him once more, along with the Jigglypuff bouncing upwards once again.

"Alright you two." the trainer told them. "It's time to go."

Both of them looked sad, not wanting to leave.

"Puff?..." the Jigglypuff said saddened.

"Oddish?..." the Oddish added. Bomber lowered his head down to the floor, letting the Jigglypuff hop off of him.

"You two best listen to your trainer, kiddos." he told them. "If you wanna grow up to be big and strong like me, you need to listen to her, okay?"

They both cheerfully smiled at him, finally heading over to the trainer. Sissy watched with a smile as the trainer returned her Pokemon to their Pokeballs, giving Bomber a warm smile.

"You're the nicest Pidgeotto I've ever met." she told him. Bomber shrugged his wings coyly.

"I suppose." he told her. "It's not that big of a deal, really."

She waved goodbye to him, heading towards the entrance of the Pokemon center. As Bomber watched her leave, he soon noticed Sissy standing by the automatic door.

"Oh, hey," he said cheerfully. "how was your walk?"

She headed over to him with a sigh, shrugging with her arms limply by her side.

"Okay, I guess." she told him, lowering her head with her wet ears folding back a little. Bomber had never seen her so sad before.

"Are you alright?" he asked her worried. "You haven't really seemed like yourself lately."

Once again, she shrugged, not sure how to respond.

"I guess I've just had a lot on my mind, that's all." She looked up at him, seeing the concern in his eyes. "I'm fine, really, I am."

Bomber cocked his head at her unconvinced.

"No you're not." he told her. "Come on, I know we haven't exactly gotten to get to know each other that well, but I know when somebody's sad. After growing up in a psychiatrist's office you sorta learn what sad people look like even when they try to suppress their emotions. Your expression is no different then there's were."

Sissy lowered her head again with droplets of water landing on the floor beneath her.

"I guess I'm just unsure what to think about Matt and I." she finally admitted. "I know I must sound pathetic, but I don't know if I even mean anything to him. Again, I probably sound stupid, but I've just been dealing with emotions I'm not used to."

Bomber nodded his head at her sympathetically, doing his best to understand how she felt inside.

"I know I can't speak for him," Bomber told her, "but I know Matt does care about you. However, with all the drama that's been going on I can understand why you might not feel that important to him. Maybe right now you just need to distract your mind and focus on other aspects of your life. Sometimes all you can do is wait. Upsetting yourself over issues you have no control over are only going to make you feel worse."

Sissy thought about what he said as more water dripped from her.

"So what do you suggest I do in the meantime?" she asked. Bomber thought about it, looking over to the directory of the Pokemon center.

"You know," he told her. "I'm still not completely used to my new form. It's a little more awkward and I'd like to learn how to handle myself better when I have to battle again. I've been talking to some people and they said there's a combat training room on the second floor. If you want, you and I could spend our free time there."

Sissy shrugged, looking at her bokuto.

"I guess that doesn't sound too bad." she told him.

"It'd give us a chance to get to know each other better, and hey, you might be able to work on using magic like Laurence showed you. Maybe you could even show _me_ a few pointers."

Sissy smiled, nodding her head confidently. She liked the sound of that.

"That sounds fun." she told him. "It'd probably be beneficial to sharpen my skills while we wait anyway."

Bomber squinted happily at her.

"Good." he told her. "Wanna start now?"

Sissy nodded with a weak smile, walking towards the elevators with Bomber.

_**"Stay**_ calm." Doug repeated to himself before the curtains opened. "Just stay away from any creepy men with mustaches and you'll be fine."

Doug and Darrell were doing another show dressed as woman in dresses. This time they'd be preforming a slower and more 'graceful' song, making Darrell loath what they had to do even more. The entire time they were getting ready Doug kept worrying about being kissed by a man again.

The curtains opened all the way with a fog machine starting up, rolling out onto the stage as the two of them moved out with it. Music played as they started dancing slowly. A small crowd of people were standing around the stage with only one person sitting at a table. That person was Otto.

He had made his way into the bar with the intention on getting himself shit faced. Instead, he decided to stick with beer. Oddly enough, it reminded him of his grandfather. His grandfather always made him feel better, that was until he finally passed away. He was the only person who was ever proud of Otto. His mother and father would constantly ignore him, either that or they would slap him around when he pissed them off. Even if he was only nineteen, he'd shared a few drinks with his grandfather when he was still kicking. For some reason, Otto felt like his grandfather was with him when he had a beer in his hand.

Otto every now and then would look up at the dancers on stage, watching them preform with the utmost grace and elegance. He sighed, wishing things weren't so damn frustrating. Otto knew all too well shit was going to hit the fan when he came back to the suite, wondering if he should even go back at all. Maybe he should just sit there all night and drink beer until he was shit faced like he wanted to be in the first place.

He sighed, taking a swig from the bottle with the bitterness of the beer making his tongue tingle slightly. Most people his age would complain about the taste. In a way, it made him feel a little more superior to everyone else in his age group since he had acquired the taste for beer. Setting the bottle back down with a thud, he noticed a young man enter the bar.

Wearing clothes unlike the commoners, he wore a dark gray coat made of wool that was zipped up to his neck. It had multiple pockets and wool straps on the shoulders of it that were held down with plastic buttons, being a dark black. His pants were a pair of dark blue jeans that seemed sightly faded at the knees, most likely from a long journey. He wore white sneakers that looked incredibly worn down, covered in dust from the road.

The stranger's short brown hair was damp from the rain that had been beating down on him from outside, but it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He started talking to the barkeep, who gladly complied to what he asked for. In a matter of about a half minute, he was served a drink, though it had no ice in it. The stranger gave the barkeep a funny look due to this reason, but decided against arguing about the fact.

He glanced around the room, soon spotting Otto. With a half smirk, the stranger made his way over to Otto's table with the drink in his hand. As he approached, Otto got a good look at the young man's face. He was clearly youthful, being probably about his own age, though had facial hair that made him look a little older. It was light in the front, but definitely was thicker on his sides, naturally being an identical color to the hair on his head. His eyes were a medium blue and his face was a welcoming, and somewhat handsome, addition to his appearance.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" he asked politely. Otto, not really caring, just shrugged.

"I don't care." Otto told him, taking another drink of his beer. Setting down his rum and coke drink on the table, the stranger pulled out the chair on the opposite side of the table. He unzipped his jacket, placing it on the back of the chair. His shirt was a solid black. Along with his shirt, he wore a pendant of a white paw print that had a black outline to it, matching with his shirt. He sat down, reaching into the side of his coat pocket and pulling out a leather bound notebook with a mechanical pencil attached to it.

"Sorry," the stranger told Otto. "I know I could have probably sat somewhere else. It's just that haven't really been able to talk to anyone lately. I can leave you alone if you want."

Otto shook his head, not really caring.

"It's fine." he told him, taking another drink of his beer. The stranger smiled friendlily at him, taking the pencil in hand and opening the leather bound book. Otto watched the dancer on stage as the stranger began to read over his work, soon swearing when he found yet another mistake.

"Damn." he muttered, erasing and rewriting the word. "I can't spell worth crap."

Otto looked over at the stranger, watching him take a drink from his glass of rum and coke. He examined the leather bound book suspiciously.

"What's that?" he asked him. The stranger looked up at him a little surprised, soon smiling back at him with confidence.

"Just some notes I've been taking." the stranger explained. "I'm new to Kanto and thought it'd be a good idea before writing a story involving it."

"You're a writer?" Otto asked surprised. The stranger nodded.

"Yes I am." he told him. "I've been writing all my life, even when I was a kid. I felt it was time to expand my horizons. Well, sort of."

Otto cocked his head, gripping onto his beer without even realizing it.

"Sort of?" He asked confused. The stranger started chuckling, setting down his mechanical pencil.

"It's kind of a funny story." the stranger confessed. "You see, I've written all kinds of things: adventure, romance, thriller, and some smut on the side. Things had been going poorly a while back and I was in a rut, unsure what to write on the account of terrible writer's block. A friend of mine kept pestering me, saying I should write a story based in Kanto. Naturally I was against the idea, saying I should be able to create my own fictional place instead of using a place that already exists. After some persuading and nagging I finally came here and have been taking notes ever since."

Otto reached his hand out towards the stranger.

"My name's Otto." Otto told him, trying to be polite. The stranger extended his hand as well, shaking it with Otto.

"Nice to meet you." the stranger told him. "My name's Kane. Though, most people refer to me as Krimson Kane."

"That's an unusual name." Otto said, not trying to sound harsh. "No offense, or anything."

"None taken." Kane told him with a chuckle. "Even weirder, I spell Krimson with a K instead of a C."

Otto looked at him funny, taking another quick drink of his beer as the dancers on stage twirled around. The music was staring to get even slower, making the atmosphere of the bar all the more relaxing than it already was.

"You spell it with a K?" he asked him amused. Kane nodded.

"Yeah" he told him, seeing the amusement on Otto's face. "Years ago I made a joke, saying that Ks were cooler than Cs. They sound the same, so personally there really isn't much of a difference. Besides, Krimson Kane is much more original than my real name."

"Your real name?" Otto said perplexed. "You mean Kane isn't your real name?"

Kane shook his head, revealing to Otto his birth given name.

"Sorta like the bird?" Otto inquired.

"Yeah," Kane said with another nod, taking a sip of his drink. "and naming your child after a letter of the alphabet is also just lazy in my opinion. Granted, they spelled it more than one letter, but I still don't like it."

Otto chuckled, but soon looked down at his beer a little depressed. Kane could see his saddened expression, too curious not to ask what was wrong.

"You look a little down in the dumps." Kane told him prospectively. "Wanna tell me about it?"

Otto kept looking at his beer, laughing at Kane's offer.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Otto said seriously.

Kane looked to his side, momentarily breaking the 4th wall between him and the readers with a smug smile on his face.

"I'm not so sure about that." he chuckled, looking back at Otto. "Go ahead and try me. Whatever it might be, I'm sure I can handle it..."


	39. Chapter 39

_**Chapter 39**_

_**Otto**_ was on his third beer when he had finally finished explaining their situation. He admitted that he never gotten the whole story during the time Matt was on his own, only gathering bits and pieces from the things he overheard him talking about. The entire time Kane listened with rapt attention, hardly blinking as Otto told their story, at least the parts he knew.

"I don't really expect you to believe any of it," Otto sighed, once again taking a swig of beer. "but that's the mess we're currently dealing with."

Kane, who was still finishing his first drink, being a rum and coke, slowly nodded reassuringly to Otto.

"It sounds like a hell of a story." He told him. "And I've read and written my fair share of them. I dunno though; I think you might be telling the truth."

Otto chuckled, leaning back the chair he was in as music still played in the bar.

"Oh, yeah," he laughed. "I forgot, you said you were a writer- that's right."

Otto had a high tolerance for alcohol, but the beer certainly had helped him loosen up a bit. His natural introversion wasn't effecting him as much. If anything, he enjoyed opening up to Kane. Anybody who would actually take the time to listen to him was a welcome addition to Otto. The dancers on strange were finishing up their act, doing their best to finish their performance strong. However, the entire time Doug and Darrell danced disguised as women, Doug was panicking inside his head.  
"_No creepy mustache men are going to kiss you..."_ Doug thought to himself, momentarily closing his eyes and inhaling deeply in an attempt to calm himself down. His deep breathing had little effect on him, still with his heart pounding irregularly due to his immense and newly acquired fear of facial hair. "_Just stay calm. Stay-"_

Doug froze in fear while Darrell continued dancing. Darrell glanced over at his friend quickly, worried that something was wrong, though refused to quit in the middle of the show. This was their only source of income at the time and he'd be damned if they were going to be unpaid for not finishing the show as planned.

"Why the hell did you stop?" Darrell whispered over to his friend with the music shadowing over his murmur. Doug didn't respond, staring in horror at one of the men cheering for him. He had pale skin, dark eyes, and a shaved head. Along with all of these things he had the thickest, most burly mustache Doug had ever seen. With the urge to vomit, tears swelled up in his eyes.

Doug turned, running off to the backstage. With his hands over his eyes, he began to cry hysterically with his inner femininity taking over. Darrell refused to stop dancing, even if he did hate having to prance around on stage as a woman. As much as he was worried for his friend, Darrell was actually more worried about himself considering he was the only one dancing now. The audience didn't really mind all that much, yet were all wondering the same thing: why had such a beautiful woman run off crying like that?

Otto and Kane looked over their shoulders, watching as the remaining "woman" finished the show, doing a bow as the music ended. The watchers grew loud, cheering and clapping even more. They all began to throw money on stage as Darrell desperately tired to collect all of it. It was an entertaining spectacle to both Otto and Kane, soon with the two of them returning to the topic they had previously been talking about.

"I don't know anymore." Otto sighed, holding his beer close to his mouth. "I feel bad for saying what I did to my friends, but I'm just so fed up with the crap I've been put through. You'd think with my IQ I'd at least be a _little_ more respected."

"I can relate." Kane told him empathetically. "Unfortunately I know what it's like to be unappreciated. Granted, I'm in no way a genius like you, but as a writer it gets frustrating sometimes dealing with it all. I know what it's like to work all night on a project, putting your heart and soul into something you care about, only to have it belittled and looked down upon as if it's nothing of value. The only difference is I'm writing stories and you're creating inventions."

Kane thought to himself, half-regretting what he said.

"Wow, I think I just compared myself to a genius." he laughed. "You've probably had to deal with way more shit than I have."

Otto shook his head, matching Kane's laugh with one of his own.

"It's fine." Otto chortled. "I've known a few writers and I honestly feel sorry with what you have to deal with."

Kane shrugged with the paw pendant he was wearing moving slightly with his body.

"I'm used to it by now." Kane told him, continuing on with their conversation. "Although it does get a little irritating after a while dealing with the criticism for completely acceptable things..."

He momentarily broke the 4th wall, accidentally leaving character again.

"You know, sorta like when I write fight scenes that are 'unrealistic' even though they were _meant_ to be imperfect to give the effect of struggle and confusion during battle or listening to people bitch about character flaws that were _meant_ to be there in the first place."

Kane coughed, quickly getting back into character. He looked back over to Otto, giving him a smile. Otto in return was looking at him funny.

"Yeah..." Otto said suspicious as to who Kane's comments were directed to. "I can imagine..."

Otto once again sighed, soon taking the last drink of his third beer. Finishing it off, he slammed it down with a saddened expression.

"I'm just tired of feeling worthless around my friends." he told Kane. "I know they care and all that, but it's discouraging not being heard for so long."

Kane saw the lost look in his eyes, feeling sorrow towards his new friend.  
"I just wish I felt like I mattered when I was around them, you know?"

Kane frowned, losing himself in own thoughts momentarily.

"It's a terrible feeling to have." Kane sympathized with a glazed look over his eyes. "You feel like no matter how fucking hard you try you're always going to be inadequate around those you love. There's a hollow feeling in your soul that you think can never be filled. You'll have days when you wake up believing that you're better off dead. The things you do, the things you say, and even the things you know seem to not be good enough."

Realizing he was rambling about his own personal feelings, Kane shook his head with closed eyes and a rueful frown.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I've just shared those feelings in the past, but you know what? It gets better over time. You just need to hang in there. Sooner or later things will start to look up."

"I've heard _that_ before." Otto said unconvinced, leaning his head on his hand with his elbow planted on the table. Kane couldn't help but smile back at him.

"I know I probably sound like I'm just feeding you a line of bullshit," Kane told him. "but I'm serious. I used to think the same thing. 'If something was going to change for the better then why hasn't it already?' You're just going to have to trust me on this. Things _will_ get better. One day you're going to realize just how much people need you, and I hope that day comes soon for you."

Kane stood up, reaching for his coat that was resting on the back of the chair he had been sitting at. Otto watched him put it on, zipping it up to the bottom of his chin.

"Just hang in there." Kane told him, turning for the door of the bar. "I have a feeling we'll meet again in the future. But for now, I need to make my way to Pallet town. I think I just might have found a story worth writing about..."

With that, Kane left the bar, setting his course for Mom's house. If what Otto said held any truth, that's where the story would begin...

Otto thought about what Kane told him, leaning back in his chair once more. Maybe he was right. Even if things currently sucked that didn't mean they couldn't get better in the future. With the feeling of optimism, Otto stood up and pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose with a faint smile, making his way towards the entrance of the bar.


	40. Chapter 40 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 40**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Kane closed the book, tossing it aside onto the end table nearest to him. In her usual attire of a dark blouse and skirt, Clara sat in the chair across from his, holding her slender tail with both hands. She looked lost in thought, having difficulty understanding everything.

"So you really met Otto?" she asked him with her brow furrowing. Kane immediately saw something was wrong with her, growing upset.

"Please tell me you haven't forgotten to take your medication today." Kane said to her as he put his hands together, forcing himself to not fly off the handle. "You realize that not taking it is only going to prolong your recovery, don't you?"

She shamefully nodded her head, quickly standing up and hurrying out of the room to go take the pills she needed on a daily basis. Kane sighed, putting his hand on his head. Why did he feel so guilty for reminding her to take her medication? Moments later she came back, still looking as if she had a lost look in her eye. It was the scariest look Kane had ever seen in his life and hated it when she looked like that.

"Clara," he told her, "I know this has all been very difficult for you, but you can't skip taking your medicine. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Still feeling ashamed, she lowered her head. Kane felt horrible talking down to her like that, slowly standing up and walking towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, making her suddenly jerk from fright from being startled. She stared in his eyes, seeing that he wasn't mad at her.

"I guess I can't really blame you." he sighed. "It's a little ironic forgetting to take medication that helps you remember things, isn't it."

She smiled at him, but soon her smiled faded away with a curious expression replacing it.

"You told me you were reading this to me for a reason." she told Kane. "And that we both had roles in it, right."

Kane nodded, letting go of her shoulders and making his way over to his desk with another stack of letters on it that had been already opened and read through.

"We both indeed have roles," he told her, leaning against his desk. "however, mine is fairly minor. Yours however is much more major."

Clara frowned, putting her hands together in front of her.

"I still don't understand what you mean." she admitted. Kane crossed his arms, doing the same thing with his feet as he kept leaning against the side of his desk.

"What's the last thing you remember before the incident?" Kane asked her. Clara didn't even have to think about it. She already knew. It was the one thing that came to her with the simplest of ease.

"Moonlight Sonata." She told him with a comforting feeling overcoming her senses. "I remember that everything was really dark. I was laying on something soft and I heard someone playing Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven on the piano." Clara suddenly frowned. "And crying... Somebody was crying."

Kane closed his eyes, thinking deeply about the promise he had made.

"And that's all you remember, correct?" Kane inquired. Clara nodded. Without further questioning, Kane made his away around his desk, sitting down in the chair behind it.

"That's good that you still remember that." Kane told her, pulling out some paper and a pen. "Never forget that memory."

Clara glanced over at the book with a frown, then back at Kane unsure. Her tail wrapped around her as she grabbed onto it, toying with it as she normally did.

"Um, were we going to read more?" she asked him, hinting that she wanted to continue in the story. Kane uncapped his pen with a smile.

"In a moment, Clara." he told her. "Let me first take care of something."

He began to write on the parchment as Clara took her seat with her tail still in her hands.

_Dear Readers,_

_ Thank you very much for your continued support. As you already know, I do in fact have a cameo in this story. The description of my character is completely true along with my attitude and disposition. Since I've had a few fans rib me on my spelling and other issues, I felt it was only fair to get back at them, even if that meant breaking the forth wall. This was merely meant as a joke._

_ I'm sorry if the updates sometimes feel a little delayed, but I cannot express the strain these current chapters have been putting me under. This is a very complex part of the story, surely only one of many to come. My fear is that the story may seem a little slow right now, but hopefully I make up for that by the humor and back stories forming with the characters and region. In my defense, I feel I would be robbing you of a good story if I were to rush things. Developing characters and plot takes a while, even if that means adding extra chapters._

_ The feedback I've been getting from everyone has been incredible. I can not tell you all enough how much I enjoy receiving your messages and reviews. To be honest, I'll have some days I'm saddened if I find I haven't received any. Perhaps that is pathetic on my part, but I've always enjoyed hearing what the fans have to say. Thank you all once again for your amazing support._

_ -Krimson Kane_

Kane put down the pen, getting up from his chair. Remembering he had forgotten something, he quickly sat back down to add something.

_P.S.- According to what I've been told by some of the readers, moaning from a kitten licking your arm is in fact much weirder than moaning from a toe being put into someone's vagina. I'm not sure if I should be proud that I won the bet or ashamed of the fact..._

Shrugging, Kane set down the pen and stood up once again, determined to continue reading the story to Clara.


	41. Chapter 41

_**Chapter 41**_

_** Still**_ in her beast form, Emie stretched sleepily on the bed she had been sleeping on. Upon opening her eyes she noticed that Shade was napping beside her. With her thumb instinctively in her mouth, Shade was snoozing peacefully. Emie's body soon glowed a white light, transforming back to her anthro form. She hopped off the bed with a smile on her face, completely naked. Finding Shade adorable as she slept, Emie bent over next to her, giving her a pat on the head.

"Shade-Shade looks so cute when Shade-Shade sleeps..." Emie giggled, with Shade giggling as well as her perverse dreams raved within her mind. She cooed with delight as her lips motioned against her thumb, soon with her tongue circling round and round.

"Oh, yeah," she murmured in her sleep with her thumb still in her mouth. "you like that, don't you? Naughty girl..."

Emie cocked her head to the side, watching as Shade suckled her thumb suggestively. Not thinking much of it, she put on her clothes and headed towards the door that led out of the room with light footing.

With a yawn, Emie stepped into the main part of the suite. Sulking on the couch, Matt's head was hung low with him sitting hunched forward. Laurence was still reading his book, making eye contact with the sleepy-eyed Meowth.

"Good morning, Emie." Laurence greeted her friendlily. "I trust you slept well?"

Emie smiled at him with her upper canine tooth protruding as it typically did when she was happy. She had grown to like the sound of his voice over the past few days, enticed by his formal and highly educated diction. Wanting to match his ability, Emie thought to herself, planning out her words.

"Emie did sleep very well and Emie is happy to see Laur_ie_." she told him. Laurence returned to his book with a smile, soon with it weakening when he glanced over to Rachel's room. She'd been in there for a while and frankly he was worried.

Prancing over to Matt, Emie leapt over the couch, getting a solid six feet off the floor, landing beside him on her knees on the couch cushion beside him. She wrapped her arms around him lovingly and embraced Matt.

"Emie is awake!" she announced with vigor. Matt glanced at her with a weak smile.

"Hey," he said amused by her energy and cheerful attitude. "I'm glad to see that at least _someone_ is in a good mood."

Emie rubbed her face against the side of his playfully, purring contently. For a moment, Matt felt himself getting 'excited' by the feeling of her fur against him. Getting a little red in the face, he moved his head away from her. Emie frowned, not understanding why Matt didn't want her playing with him. She frowned, clearly hurt.

"Does Matt not want to play with Emie?"

"S-sorry, Emie." Matt told her with a cough, not wanting to let on that he was trying to avoid getting turned on. "I'm just not having a very good day today, that's all."

Emie began to look even sadder, grappling onto Matt once again, refusing to let go of him as he struggled. The feeling of her breasts pushing up against him was hard to ignore.

"Hugs make everything better!" Emie told him lovingly. Matt's pleasure of being mashed up against her began to show with an erection forming. Emie glanced down and stared at the bulge in his pants. Her face grew slightly red behind her fur, realizing that it was because of her. After a sudden pause she grew even more cheerful, giggling childishly.

"Matt really _does _like Emie, huh?" She purred, getting close to his face even more playfully. Matt turned his head away from her, looking over to the side.

"Hey, would you look at that..." Matt said trying to change the subject. "What a lovely wall..."

Emie licked the side of his face jokingly with Matt actually enjoying it more than he wanted to admit.

"Well," Emie purred happily, "Emie really likes Matt too..."

She wiggled her body, adjusting herself so she could rest her head against his shoulder. Matt smiled at her as she gave him one of her own.

"You certainly know how to make someone feel better." Matt told her. Emie yawned once more, stretching out her legs on the couch, still leaned up against Matt.

"Emie has been _reee_ally bored." she told him. "Can Matt and Emie go do something fun?"

Matt stared at her with his thoughts growing perverse. Images of Emie's hips grinding against his made him blush.

"And...what did you have in mind?..." he asked her, not sure what she were implying. She looked at him confused. Why was he looking so red?

"Emie doesn't know." she said truthfully. "Can Emie and Matt watch something on the movie screen thingy?"

Matt's awkwardness subsided, actually making him laugh for a moment.

"Oh," he said, grabbing for the remote next to him. "I thought you were implying we have sex or something."

Emie's eyes now had a hungry look in them. She moved close to his face again as Matt flipped through the channels.

"Emie and Matt _could_ if Matt wanted..." she whispered, sounding very alluring. Matt's face grew a bright red, momentarily stopping his channel surfing to look at her. Her expression was completely serious. Emie's smile had her tooth protruding and her eyes half lidded.

"H-how about we just watch TV..." he told her, feeling himself getting warmer. Matt moved his hand over his lap, trying his best to hide the bulge in his pants. Emie mischievously bit on his ear, sending a shiver up Matt's spine. With the sound on the television currently on a lower setting, all he could hear was the rain outside and Emie breathing. She released his ear, nudging his face with her cat-like muzzle.

"Later?..." she asked him in a soft tone of voice. It was like she were a completely different person. Matt wasn't sure what to say.

"Maybe..." he told her meekly. Emie giggled, returning back to her playful self.

"Okies." she told him, leaning against his shoulder again.

Laurence once again glanced over to Rachel's room, finally setting his book down beside him. He stood up and straightened his suit out, then approached her room. With a light knock of his knuckles against the wood, he rapped them against the door. There was a quiet pause.

"Yeah, it's open." he heard her say from inside.

Laurence opened the door and entered.

He walked in, noticing that the bathroom door in her room was left wide open with a light on inside. Rachel was standing in front of the mirror, frowning at her reflexion as if angered by what she saw. Laurence approached the bathroom door, standing in the doorway with a frown.

"Is everything alright, my Lady?" he asked her worried. She glanced over to him, rubbing her eye. They were both red, making Laurence even more worried. "Forgive me if I'm stepping out of place, mistress, but you wouldn't happen to have been crying, have you?"

Rachel looked back at the mirror and chuckled at how pathetic she looked.

"Would you believe me if I told you I have allergies?" she asked. Laurence shook his head.

"I'm afraid I would not, my Lady." he truthfully admitted. Rachel sighed, hating her reflection more and more the longer she stared at it.

"I never thought Otto would have the balls to say what he did." she said to Laurence. "Even if the things he said were true..."

"Is there anything I could assist you with to make you feel better, mistress?" he asked her.

"I don't suppose you could get me new genes, would you?" she joked.

"I'm afraid I cannot." he said less than amused, still standing in the doorway. "Why would you purposely wish to change the way that you look?"

Beginning to get irritated with the obvious facts, Rachel grabbed her chest shamelessly and gave her small breasts a squeeze.

"I wish I bigger boobs..." she sighed. Laurence put his hand to his head with a laugh.

"Is that what you're so upset about, my Lady?" he asked her. "The size of your bust?"

Rachel looked at him surprised, resting her hands down on the sink counter in front of her.

"Well, yeah..." she said at a loss. "Every girl wants bigger boobs..."

Laurence started chuckling, finding what she said hilarious.

"Forgive me, my Lady," he told her. "but I feel that you're overlooking a few other aspects."

He stepped over to her, entering the bathroom. Laurence stood beside her, pointing at the long stretched mirror of the bathroom they were standing in front of.

"Tell me what you see." he told her. She looked at the mirror with a frown.

"I see a flat chested chick who everybody hates..." she remarked. Laurence smiled, shaking his head.

"Would you like to know what _I_ see?" he asked her.

She looked at him using the mirror, soon nodding.

"I see a beautiful woman," he told her. "with eyes that make the earth feel jealous of the precious gems that shimmer within them. Each of the strands of hair on your head are coveted by goddesses that only dream of possessing such beauty. A complexion as flawless as yours makes angles weep and demons like myself humbled to even be in your presence. Your figure alone would drive even the most strong willed of men to their knees, feeling unworthy to even kiss your impeccable feet. Your hands are gorgeous with everyone they touch gaining a feeling of serenity into even the most dejected and disheartened individuals. Figures may come in all shapes and sizes, but none come in perfection such as yours."

Rachel stared in the mirror at Laurence, slightly blushing. He smiled back at her confidently.

"There is nothing wrong with your body, mind, nor even your bust." he assured her. "You are perfect the way you are. To alter a priceless work of art such as yourself would be criminal in my opinion."

He turned, walking out of the bathroom with his shoes clacking as he exited. Rachel stood there, looking back at the mirror with a faint smile. Maybe she didn't look so bad after all...

_**Sissy**_ swung at Bomber using the training sticks that were out on display in the training room. Bomber once again blocked successfully with both of this wings shielding him, but could tell Sissy was holding back more than she should have been. Sissy panted, holding the large pole-like stick in both of her hands, wielding it like a sword.

"Are you sure I'm not hurting you?" she asked him concerned. Bomber lowered his wings and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it." he told her assuringly. "My wings are tougher than you might think. I can make them have the density and durability of steel at will when I focus on doing so. Not to mention use them like blades; they're sharp as hell when I want them to be."

Taking a short break from sparing in the designated sparing area that they were in, Sissy lowered the stick and sat down on the mat beneath them. Bomber did the same, resting on his underbelly in front of her.

"How is that even possible?" she asked him. "I didn't realize you were that strong when we met you."

"I wasn't." he assured her with a pant. "but after evolving into to Pidgeotto I just somehow know how. I think it's a UMP thing."

The training room was fairly large with multiple things to do. There were punching bags, weights, and even sparing areas fenced off like boxing rings like the one Bomber and Sissy were using. Sissy thought about the little magic that Laurence had taught her, sighing as she sat there cross legged.

"I wish I knew how to use magic better." Sissy confessed. Bomber cocked his head at her, not sure what the problem was.

"Then why don't you practice?" he asked her. Sissy shrugged, unsure of her own ability.

"I would," she told him, "but I don't think I'd really be able to get the hang of it."

Bomber laughed at her, stretching out his large wings.

"You're not going to learn by pouting." he told her bluntly. Sissy half frowned, raising her index finger up and stared at it.

"But all I can really do is act like a living lighter." she told him half jokingly. Bomber stood up, doing a little hop to get himself pumped up for round two of their sparing practice.

"If you keep at it I'm sure you could be much more than that!" he told her enthusiastically. "Come on, let's go again! And this time don't hold back, unless you think you can't handle taking me on!"

Sissy smiled back at him, standing up with the training stick in her hand. She took up a fighting stance, raising the stick in the air like she would a sword.

"Don't get cocky just yet!" she snickered. "You haven't seen what this living lighter is fully capable of!"

With a sudden jolt, Sissy leapt towards Bomber, swinging the stick at him, continuing their sparing practice, both enjoying each others company.

_**The**_ ninja's fighting on TV were doing insane flips with corny sound effects added to 'enhance' the feeling of action. Emie watched, eyes glued to the television, with her tongue slightly sticking out without her even realizing it. Over the time Matt had known her, Emie always seemed to do that when she were incredibly focused on something.

She was sitting next to Matt crossed legged and completely sucked into the cheesy ninja show that she adored so much. Rachel had finally come out of her room after her self pity session, sitting next to Laurence with her hands in her lap. Laurence himself couldn't believe how fake the show was, feeling compelled to point out all of the flaws in the techniques that were being used.

Shade was sitting on Matt's other side, having woken up from her previous nap and joining them in watching the show. Every now and then she would heckle at the fact that the voice's didn't match up with the lip movements. Every time she did Emie would shush her. With all of the ninja's being male, Shade grew bored, wishing that at least one of them could have been a sexy woman.

"Emie wants to be ninja..." Emie sighed. Laurence, looking over to her as she watched completely engrossed, put his hand on his chin, rubbing it slowly.

"A ninja, you say?" he asked her. Emie nodded, not taking her eyes off the screen for even a second. Laurence frowned, looking back at the show. "In no disrespect for your wishes, but I frankly _despise_ ninja's."

As if perfectly timed, a commercial came on with Emie looking over at Laurence confused. Naturally, so did Matt and Rachel. Shade however was too afraid to look him in the eye, watching the commercials as if she were really interested in them.

"Why is that?" Matt asked curiously. Laurence sighed with his memories of dealing with ninja's upsetting him.

"Those fools sicken me." Laurence groaned. "Nearly ever single time I fought with them they fought back with not even an ounce of dignity nor honor. They'll kick the sand in your eyes, they'll attack from behind, and they'll run away like cowards when they realize that they can't win. The fact of the matter is ninja's fight dirty and all deserve to die miserable deaths."

Matt and Rachel looked at each other, both wondering just how old Laurence _really_ was. Emie's ears folded back with her eyes swelling up tears.

"Would Laurence hate Emie is _she_ were a ninja?..." she asked him with a sniffle. Laurence once again sighed, seeing the childishness in her yearning of his acceptance. He gave her a smile.

"You would be the acceptation." Laurence told her. Emie's ears perked up with her smile returning. They suddenly twitched with the sound of the door opening. Everyone turned to see Otto walking into the suite. In his hands was a package along with a few letters on top of it. He looked a little nervous walking in on everyone, looking down at the package and letters.

"Hey," he said to them, "I'm sorry for blowing up at you guys like I did. I was totally out of line for what I said and I honestly wouldn't blame you if you both hated me."

Matt sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's okay man." he told him. "I know you're under a lot of stress. I'm just sorry we haven't really been listening to you."

Rachel surprising seemed friendly as well.

"Whatever." she told him. It might not have sounded like it, but it was one of the nicest things she'd said to him since they set out on their journey. Matt stared at the package and letters in his hands, wondering what they were all about. As if reading his mind, Otto walked around the couch, handing them to him.

"Amber told me that this stuff came for you today." Otto explained. Matt grabbed the stack of letters on top of the package, being three in total, setting them on his knee so he could open the package. It was addressed to him from Don from the airfield they had stopped at after leaving from Viridian city. Upon opening the package, he saw a navy blue mechanic jumpsuit and matching aviator cap with goggles attached, just like the one Bomber had before he outgrew it. There was a note attached to it. Matt took it, reading it with Emie looking at the clothes inside.

_"Hey Matt,"_ it read. _"I just wanted to say thank you again for saving my ass. Luna, the Pidgeot you're lending me, has been a huge help. Not only has she made sure the wild Pokemon around my air base stay away, but she's also quite handy with a wrench. She's been helping me work on my plane and is nice to have around for company. The other day I was thinking about that Pidgey of yours, Bomber, and was worried that someday he might outgrow that cap I gave him. So, after spending a little money in town, I got him a special aviator cap that adjusts with his body. No matter how large he may get it'll adapt to his body. I also threw in a jumpsuit for when he might wanna be in his anthro form. Once again, many thanks. -Don_

Matt set the jumpsuit and aviator cap beside him, unintentionally setting it in Emie's lap without even realizing it. He opened one of the first letters, seeing that it was from a name named Terence.

"_Dear Matt,"_ it read. _"You probably don't remember me, but I'm the owner of Trainers Delight in Viridian city. You beat the crap out of that punk from the gang of thugs that had been harassing me and the other store owners, not to mention bought that pink talker collar from me. Anyway, the store owners and I heard about what happened to you, taking on the gang leader like you did. Well, ever since then things have been peachy and none of us have had to deal with those jerks since. The Merchant community and I are trying to pool together something nice for you, but it might take a little while. Except to get something soon. Best of luck to you and your Pokemon. -Terence._

Setting his letter down, Matt moved onto the next one. It was from Mom back in Pallet town. He quickly opened it up, taking out the letter. It smelled like cookies for some reason.

_"Matt,"_ it read. _"It's been a little while since you've left Pallet town. It feels like it was just yesterday Sissy was swinging her bokuto at you. I hope your trip to Bill's hasn't been too difficult, but I have a feeling that it's been testing. Hopefully it's just a feeling. Not a day passes without me thinking about you and Sissy. I pray the two of you are getting along well. It's been weird not having her at home with me, but I knew it was time for her to set out and strive to achieve her dream of being strong enough to protect those she loves. I know she's probably told you about how guilty she feels about the loss of my son. I've tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault, but maybe you could tell her that as well. Maybe she'll listen to you. Tell her I love her and feel free to call when you get the chance. Stay safe! -Mom_

Matt reread the part about Sissy feeling guilty about the loss of her son multiple times, wondering what that meant. The show Emie was watching came back on with everyone's eyes on the TV except Matt's. He began to wonder what Sissy hadn't yet told him.

Pushing that thought aside, Matt went to the last letter, hastily enclosed in it's envelope. He undid it, realizing it was from Amber.

_"Hiya,"_ she wrote. _"I wanted to give this to you in person, but I was too shy I guess. Since you already had mail that needed to be delivered to you, I thought this would be a cute way of telling you I'm still holding you to that date you promised me! Don't forget! -Amber._

Matt chuckled, holding onto the letters that he had gotten. Emie still had the jumpsuit and aviator hat sitting in her lap, but didn't really seem to notice it. She was too busy watching the ninja show that had come back on. Everyone was sitting on the couch, watching TV as the rain continued to downpour.


	42. Chapter 42

_**Chapter 42**_

"_**The**_ mustaches..." Doug sobbed as Darrell continued to pat his back. "It was so hairy!"

"I know buddy," Darrell said trying to sympathize with his friend. "I know."

Doug wiped the tears from his eyes, forgetting just how long he had been crying in the backstage with Darrell patting his back.

"I'm so sorry." Doug apologized. "I just couldn't handle it...I had to get out of there."

"It's okay, Doug." Darrell told him with another pat on the back. "We got paid. That's all that matters. I just wish we didn't have to keep dressing up like woman to get money."

The backstage was dimly lit like it always was. The two of them were sitting on stools being side by side with each other. There was a faulty sink in the corner with their duffel bag with their costumes and things beneath it. The mirror that was above the sink was cracked and tilted to the side unevenly. The bar they were working at was a complete dive, but it was the only one that would pay them to do their act.

"Go on ahead back to the suite." Darrell told him. "I need to take care of some business."

He headed over to the duffel bag, bending down and searching through it. Doug watched him take out his gun, sliding it behind him with the butt of it sticking out from the back of his pants. Growing confused, Doug felt himself start to get panicky. Darrell turned to his friend, covering the butt of the pistol by moving his black shirt over it.

"What are you planning?" Doug asked, not sure he wanted to know. Darrell sighed, looking down momentarily, then looking back up at him.

"Don't worry," Darrell told him. "I just need to visit somebody."

"And you're taking your gun?" Doug asked not even slightly relieved. Darrell nodded, standing up from the duffel bag.

"Just in case." Darrell told him. "Pewter city can get rough in the parts I'm going. Just head back to the suite and I'll see you later."

"Darrell, are you-"

"I'll be fine, Doug." he assured him. "Don't worry about me."

His friend wasn't sold on the idea, but wasn't going to argue with him. Weakly, Doug nodded, standing up from the stool he had been crying on. Darrel handed over the duffel bag to his friend with Doug's arm plummeting downward from the unexpected weight of it. Typically having no place to live, they were used to living out of their single duffel bag. Giving Darrel one last worried look before turning around, Doug left the backstage with his shoes scuffing on the already damaged floor.

_**Darrell**_ walked the streets of Pewter city as it continued to downpour on him. He didn't mind the rain that much. It reminded him of the jobs he had taken care of in that town, most of which being late at night, raining heavily, and himself behind a loaded gun. As a Team Rocket assassin, things would get messy at times. Sometimes he'd hit the wrong person. Sometimes a child or woman would get in the way. As bad as it got, he would always tell himself to focus on the sound of the rain instead of the screams and death.

He kept walking with his hands in his pockets, feeling the chill of the rain hitting the back of his neck and dripping off his medium black hair. Normally it was slicked back, but the rain made it limp and fall forward. With one hand, he slicked it back with water flying backwards with it. Darrell had always preferred keeping his hair back. Doug would like to joke with him, calling him a 'pretty boy wannabe' if he let his bangs hang forward. Nobody would take a "pretty boy" assassin seriously, or at least in his opinion. It wasn't like he could ask the people he was killing what they thought on the account of him either shooting them at a distance or sticking a gun in their mouth before pulling the trigger. It didn't matter anymore. That life was behind him now.

Taking a turn down a different street, Darrell started getting looks from some of the people that loitered outside of the houses and stores. With his eyes set on the large building at the end of the dirt street, now slightly muddy thanks to the rain, he walked slowly towards the familiar place with his hands in his pockets.

The area of Pewter city he was in had always been rough and undesirable in general. It was known for stabbings, muggings, and the occasional dismemberment with a katana. Parents would tell their children to stay away from there with even some adults being too afraid to step foot there, with good reason too. Not only was the area rough, but it was secretly under Team Rocket control, though the term 'secret' is used loosely. Everyone knew, even the authorities that were bribed to stay the hell away from there.

Darrell stopped walking suddenly, seeing a few men appear out from a back alley. All of them wore typical japanese attire like every other locals in Pewter city. The sleeves of their large shirts were torn off, exposing the many tattoos on their arms with most of it being kanji. Being three in total, they all approached Darrell with cocky grins and lead pipes in their hands.

"You're not from around here, are you?" One of them said in an almost mocking tone of voice. Darrell didn't respond, staring into his eyes. The other two stood there trying to be intimidating, hitting the pipes in the palms of their hands. "I don't think you should have come here."

"Is that so?" Darrell said seriously. "Do you have anything actually important to say or can I please go about my business? I don't have all night."

The three of them looked at each other. Was this guy for real? They all looked at him in unison, glaring darkly at him.

"We don't like your kind." the one on Darrell's right said. "Only locals should be in these parts, not some asshole in _those_ clothes."

Darrell sighed, getting tired of dealing with these guys.

"Forgive me," Darrell told, "but I don't think starting something over someone's attire is really that called for. If you'll excuse me-" Darrell reached behind him, pulling out his gun. The men stared at it, not necessarily afraid, but surprised someone like him would carry a gun. "-I really need to get going before it gets too late."

The thug on Darrell's left took a step forward with bold strides as if his testicles were made of steel. He got in Darrell's face, getting only about three inches away from him.

"You think you got balls?" the thug asked him intimidatingly. Darrell smirked, raising the gun up towards the thug's crotch. The guy's expression quickly changed, showing a hint of fear.

"If you keep talking like that you'll loose yours." Darrell told him coldly. "I've killed more punks like you than I can count."

He slowly raised the gun higher, pressing the barrel of it against his chest.

"Did you know what they tell assassins that work for Team Rocket?" Darrell asked him seriously. "'Aim for that heart.'"

** The Pokemon universe has come a long way involving science and medicine. The technology is so advanced that healing machines (Daisys and Daisy Machines) can replicate any part of the body, even the brain, except for one: the heart. For some strange reason, scientists haven't been able to figure out why their technology can't mimic organic tissue involving the heart to replicate. Even though there is a slim to none chance you could save someone who's been shot in the head, or even had it completely blown off, it is possible to save the subject. Being shot or stabbed in the heart, however, is impossible to survive.**

The thugs face got even more frightened, realizing he just screwed with the wrong guy. The thug that Darrell had the gun up to dropped his lead pipe, raising his hands up.

"Whoa man," he said with his voice sounding shaky. "take it easy..."

Darrell pressed the gun even harder against the thugs chest with his friends looking horrified. The guy started backing up with Darrell having an angry look in his eyes.

"I'll take it easy when you get the fuck out of my face!" He yelled. "The only reason I haven't shot you is because the price of ammunition is going up and frankly you're not worth money to kill!"

The guy backed up, bumping into his other friends, all soon turning tail and running like cowards. Darrell chuckled to himself, putting his gun away and feeling proud. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a little boy standing on the street. He turned seeing the kid was shaking in fear of Darrell. He was young- couldn't have been older than six- and wore rag-like clothes, clearly being from that part of town. With a frown, Darrell turned from the small child and continued to walk, suddenly feeling shame. He'd forgotten what it was like to send fear into the hearts of others. Especially children.

He continued to walk towards the building, the only one being more than one story (in the exception of the Pokemon center). Being about three floors tall and very large, the sign outside read "The Candy Club" with neon images of naked woman dancing. Even though Darrell hated the fact that he had to enter the strip club/brothel, but he knew he needed to talk to an old employer of his about work.

Darrell walked in with the music being not so much techno, rather cultural and natural sounding. On the walls were scroll writings with kanji, pictures of bamboo, and erotic paintings of woman being dominated in sexual situations. The interior was nice, having lounge areas with stripper poles almost everywhere. The place seemed fairly empty, but Darrell wasn't stupid; he knew all the real action was being held in the upper floors. That's where the woman meant for sleeping with were. Normal woman were on the third floor with the female Pokemon on the second.

Being in that place made him feel disgusted with himself. He walked at a moderate pace towards the back of the club where a large man was sitting with a woman by his side. As he walked through, he looked around at the woman entertaining the guests. The sad truth was that they were all slaves forced into what they were doing.

There was a blonde woman with a modest chest size spinning on a pole with a forced smile. Her breasts slightly bounced as she stopped twirling on the pole, momentarily catching a glance at Darrell, the man with his hair slicked back and in 'outsider' clothes. Another girl, being a smaller chested woman with black hair, was sitting on a guy's lap, grinding her ass against his front. He slapped it hard with her cringing in pain. Only wearing a thong, the guy had left a large red hand print on her.

Darrell passed them, acting like he saw nothing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a female Squirtle in it's anthro form with another customer. She had a light blue skin from what Darrell could see and was completely naked. Only getting a view of her backside, she had a shell on her back, though it didn't do much to cover her body with the customer shamelessly toying with her breasts.

"Just ignore it." Darrell mumbled to himself as the music played. "They don't matter to you."

Before getting too close to the man sitting in the back area of the club, a man in a black outfit, being fairly buff, put his hand out towards Darrell.

"That's close enough as you get to the boss." he told him. The large man sitting on the couch with the woman looked at Darrell with his eyes widening from surprise. The bouncer looked at the boss, seeing him motion for him to move out of the way. The bouncer did as he was told, stepping aside to let Darrel come closer.

"Well I'll be damned." the large man said. "If it isn't my favorite killer."

"_Was_ your favorite killer." Darrell told him, trying not to sound offensive. The large man snapped his fingers, motioning for the girl sitting next to him, being a large chested brunette with wide hips, to get on her knees in front of him. Darrell momentarily lost his train of thought as he watched the naked woman get down on her knees as the large man spread his legs slightly apart. With the woman's back blocking the view of the man's pants, Darrell heard a zip. Soon enough, her head starting bobbing up and down, making it obvious as to what she was doing.

"I forgot you got kicked out of Team Rocket thanks to that fruity friend of yours." the man told him with a straight face as the girl went to work. "You're not still running around with him are you? The word is that you two are...you know..."

The man motioned his two index fingers together, making them provocatively bump into each other at the tip. Darrell felt himself biting his tongue, nearly to the point of making it bleed. There was so much wrong going on that he wasn't sure if he could control himself, but found a way to manage.

"Him and I are just friends." he clarified. "Nothing more."

The large man lifted his head up, doing a slow nod. It was the kind of nod that said he wasn't necessarily convinced, but wasn't willing to bother doubting what he said either.

"So what brings you here?" the large man asked as the sound of slurping come from between his legs. Darrell glanced at the bouncer, seeing that he was eying him.

"I'm looking for work to be honest." Darrell admitted, returning his focus towards him. The large man looked at him surprised, raising a single eyebrow.

"Are we talking the kind that involves capping people or something else?" he inquired. Darrell shook his head with his hands steadily by his sides.

"Just odd jobs." he told him. "Anything that needs to be taken care of. Things have been a little rough and I could use that money."

The man looked at Darrell with a squinted gaze, not sure what to make of him anymore.

"And why should I help you?" he asked him. Darrell looked the guy right in the eye with the only sounds being calming music and that of sucking. He mentally prepared himself for the bullshit he was about to spew out.

"You're Hugo," Darrell told him, "one of the greatest Kings of Team Rocket I know of. You're generous enough to help an old friend have the privilege of working for you."

Hugo smiled, giving a nod of satisfaction from his words, acting as if the woman sucking his dick weren't even effecting him in the slightest.

"That sounds like a good enough reason to me." Hugo told him with a grin. "Even though I can't officially get you back into Team Rocket, I think I can find you some odd jobs to do off the record. You can start tomorrow. Come by here at noon and I'll give you your first job. Sound good?"

"Yes sir." Darrell told him with a nod, doing his best to ignore the woman that was servicing Hugo. He motioned his hands down at his lap with a conceded sigh.

"You'll have excuse me for now." Hugo told him. "This bitch is gonna be on the cock for a while and I'm afraid I'm never that great of company when she is."

"I understand." Darrell said dryly, hiding his disgust towards Hugo. The woman pulled her head back, coughing a little. Hugo gave her a cruel look, pointing down in the direction of his member with her back still blocking Darrell's view thankfully.

"Hey," Hugo told her sternly, "I didn't say you could stop. It's not gonna suck itself."

"Yes sir." She told him, using the exact same words as Darrell had before going back to work. Darrell turned around and headed for the door with his hands by his sides, slightly trembling from his anger. He too had become another whore in a certain manor of speaking. At least now Doug and him wouldn't be forced to dress up like women. He did his best to not pay attention to the woman preforming for the men. There was a certain sickness within his stomach. One that he hadn't felt in a long, long time, now with it finally returning.

_**Everyone**_, except for Laurence who had resided in Rachel's room to read without listening to corny sound effects, was still watching the ninja show on television that Emie adored so much, now with Doug finally joining them. However, the entire time it was on he couldn't focus. He was too worried about what Darrell might have needed his gun for. Darrell was still out on doing whatever it was he needed to do and Sissy and Bomber were still gone. Doug's inner woman was starting to act up again as he fidgeted on the couch with his nerves shaken. Matt glanced over to him, seeing how pale he looked.

"Where did you say Darrell had to go?" he asked him. Doug looked back at Matt, trying to act normal. It wasn't working very well.

"He just had to go somewhere and take care of some business." He responded vaguely.

Shade, sitting close to Emie who had her eyes glued to the screen still, looked over at Doug with an unsatisfied look.

"Gee," she told him. "that's _really_ specific. I think Matt was wanting to know _where_ he went, not that he-"

"Shhh!" Emie shushed to Shade, not taking her eyes off the TV for even a second. Shade sighed, frowning at Emie as if irritated.

"Everyone else has been talking, so why can't I?" Shade asked her sounding slightly cross with her. Emie put her finger up to her mouth and shushed her once more.

"Shade-Shade is _reee_ally loud..." Emie told her with blunt honesty. Shade frowned, looking at everyone a little hurt. They all had the same look on their faces, even Rachel and Otto, who both shrugged.

"You are sorta loud." Rachel told her. "Nothing wrong with it, but your voice does seem to travel a little."

"But it's not that loud." Shade said sounding offended. "I'm talking just as loud as-"

"Shhhh!" Emie shushed once again. Shade sighed, moving her legs up to her chest and embracing them, looking annoyed.

The show was coming to a close with two of the ninja characters standing off with one another. The camera closed in on both of them dramatically as they held their katana's high. Both of them were in black ninja suits with matching masks over their face along with hoods. Only their eyes showed, glaring at each other as it panned back and forth between the two of them.

"It's time we ended this." One of them said. They swung their katana with fake sounding effects being made. The other ninja did the same, making a warrior's yell and lunging in the direction of the other ninja. Emie's butt moved closer to the edge of the part of the couch she was sitting on. Her tongue was still sticking out of her mouth as the anticipation was eating at her.

The scene froze with music playing.

"**Will our two warriors settle their differences through their blades or their words?! What will happen next! Tune in next time!"**

Emie's face looked mortified with her mouth hanging open.

"But...but..." she muttered with sad eyes. Matt saw her start tearing up. "Emie wants to know what happens! Emie want's to know! Why does Emie have to wait!"

Tears started forming in her eyes as if she had just lost a loved one. Shade looked at Emie a little amused, getting a laugh out of her.

"And I thought _I_ was over emotional..." Shade muttered to herself. The sound of the suite door was heard being opened, making Matt turn his head to see Sissy and Bomber entering.

"...after that I told him _he_ was the one missing a few screws in his head." Bomber told her. Sissy laughed, looking more happy than Matt had honestly ever seen her before. Sissy's laugh made him smile. It was truly something of beauty.

"That's hilarious." she laughed with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. Matt smiled, jumping over the back of the couch with the stuff Don had sent him in his hands. Bomber cheerfully looked at Matt with Sissy actually smiling at him. It was the happiest she had looked since they arrived.

"Where have you two been?" Matt asked him with their cheerfulness rubbing off on him.

"Bomber and I were in the training room." Sissy told him with her hand on her bokuto handle. "Him and I decided that we should try to sharpen our skills while we're waiting for the road through Mt. Moon to open up again."

Bomber nodded, lifting his wing and rubbing the back of his large neck.

"Sissy sure can pack a some force in her attacks" he told him. "I think it's safe to say we're lucky she's working with us and not against us."

Sissy smiled at him, feeling flattered. Was it just him, Matt wondered, or did Bomber have an effect on people that made them happy?

"You're just saying that." Sissy said coyly. Bomber laughed, nodding his head jokingly.

"You're right." he joked. "I'm just saying that to make you feel better about how weak you are."

Matt cringed, worried Sissy was going to fly off the handle towards Bomber. To his surprise, Sissy actually laughed at him. Instead of ripping him a new asshole, she pulled her arm back and gave him a playful punch on his wing with Bomber chuckling.

"You wish." she laughed. Matt raised up the mechanic jumpsuit and navy blue avatar cap, quickly getting Bomber's attention. He stared at both of them at a loss for words.

"Are those for me?" he asked Matt, who nodded in response.

"Don sent them." Matt explained. "He said he wanted to give you the jumpsuit in case you felt like being in your anthro form and that the aviator cap would somehow adjust to your head no matter how large you are. Kinda cool, right?"

Bomber looked excited, grabbing the cap and jumpsuit with his beak.

"I never thought about being in my anthro form." Bomber told Matt with a muffle due to the stuff he held with his beak. "Would you mind if I tried this stuff on?"

"Of course not." Matt told him, hearing the sound of Emie sniffling in the background. "But you might wanna do it in the bathroom. It would probably be a little awkward being naked in front of everyone."

Otto frowned at Emie from the other side of the large couch.

"Emie," he told her, "it's just a show."

She was hugging Shade, sobbing as Shade patted her back awkwardly. As shameful as it was, Shade was more focused on the feeling of Emie's chest against hers than her over emotional reaction. Bomber nodded at Matt's statement with a laugh muffled by the clothes he held in his beak.

"No kidding." he told him making his way to Matt's room. "I'll be right back."

He left the main suite room with Emie still sobbing her eyes out. Matt and Sissy turned their eyes away from each other, concentrating on the crying Meowth.

"But Emie doesn't want them to be dead-ed!" Emie cried. "Emie wants to know what happens to the ninjas!"

Sissy's joyous attitude began to fade the longer she watched Emie cry. She felt no sorrow for her. If anything, she wanted to slap her upside the head for being the idiot she was.

"It's just a show, stupid." Sissy told her harshly. "Why the hell are you crying over something so trivial?"

Emie turned her head with an angry frown.

"The ninjas are not just a show!" she yelled at her, sounding incredibly hurt. "Sissy wouldn't understand! Sissy is a meany head!"

"A 'meany head?'" Sissy repeated with a growl. "At least I have something _in_ my head. I'm not so sure about you though. The most you've probably got in there are cobwebs."

Emie let got of Shade, standing up with her tail flicking to the side.

"Why does Sissy have to be so mean to Emie?!" She yelled. "Emie hasn't been mean to Sissy!"

Matt looked at Sissy, shaking his head at her.

"Come on," he implored. "please don't take this farther than it needs to go."

Sissy looked into his eyes, lowering her head with a sigh.

"Alright," she told him. "I'll try to be nice to the retard."

Emie clenched her fist and waved it at Sissy.

"Emie is not a r_uh_tard!" Emie yelled with tears running down her face. Rachel stood up beside Emie, grabbing onto her wrist and forcibly lowering it.

"Just let it go, kitty cat." Rachel told her. Emie thrashed her arm away from Rachel.

"Emie will not let it go!" she yelled. "Emie is very upset with Sissy! If Sissy doesn't treat Emie nice then Emie is gonna-"

"You're going to do what?" Sissy came back, crossing her arms. "Give me brain damage from listening to you speak in third person or make me drown in your own tears?"

Matt looked at Sissy upset, starting to get mad at her.

"What'd I _just_ say?" he asked her upset. Sissy looked at him with an angry frown.

"She's the one who won't let it go!" Sissy told him. Emie was so angry she was shaking. She suddenly raised her hand up again, this time making a karate like form with her hand.

"Emie is a ninja!" Emie yelled at her. "Treat Emie nice or else!"

Sissy started laughing loudly with Shade grabbing onto Emie's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, now starting to get worried by her tail flicking back and forth like a cat about to pounce. Emie jerked her shoulder forward, making her let go.

"Just like you were a princess _and_ a human?" Sissy asked her, reopening painful wounds of Emie's past. With more tears running down her face, Emie glared at Sissy with her lower lip trembling.

"S-stop!" Emie cried. Sissy couldn't help but smile cruelly with Matt still trying to make her stop.

"You're just a delusional Meowth who's nothing more than a grade A idiot." Sissy told her insensitive. "You weren't a princess, you weren't a human, and you're sure as hell not a ninja."

Bomber existed Matt's room in the fray of all of this. In his anthro form, he wore the jumpsuit, looking rather handsome in it. His facial features looked masculine along with having a beak that was where a mouth would have been on a normal human. His new aviator hat on his head made him look stylish, giving him a pilot-like appearance.

"How do I look?" he asked cheerfully, going completely unheard.

"I said that's enough!" Matt told Sissy sternly. She looked at him, soon with the heat focused on the two of them with everyone watching, including tear-eyed Emie.

"Why do you always stick up for that twit?" Sissy asked him almost hurt. "For once why don't you just let her fight her own battles; let he finish what she starts!"

"First of all," Matt told her angrily. "_you're_ the one who started it! I'm sick and fucking tired of you treating her like she's below you, because she's not! You've got just as many faults as she does and instead of being a bitch to her, how about you show grow up and act mature for once!"

Sissy was taken back by his outburst with everyone else feeling the tension. Bomber the most. He had only left for a few minutes and they were already out for blood?! Matt for some reason wasn't finished with his rant, pointing his finger in Sissy's face.

"For the past few days we've put up with your moping and Emie hasn't said a single damn thing about it. She could have called you out on it, but didn't. Instead she gave you space about whatever the hell that's been bothering you. At least Emie is honest and tells me what's wrong, not acting like some self-righteous bitch like you tend to be."

Everyone was speechless. The hurt in Sissy's eyes showed. So did Matt's anger. Sissy forced herself to be upset, even though her pain was burdening down her heart.

"Maybe if you weren't such a stubborn dick you'd realize I've been miserable thanks to _you_." she told him. The tension in the air was so thick Bomber swore he could feel it. Matt glared at her.

"You know what Sissy," he told her, "I'm sick of your attitude, I'm sick of your drama, and I'm tired of dealing with your crap. Maybe Mom was wrong."

Sissy looked at him confused as he reached in his jacket pocket, pulling out the letter Mom had sent him. He handed it over to her as she held it with her weak grip. She skimmed it, reading the part about her feeling guilty about whatever it was that had happened to Mom's son. Sissy didn't know what to say.

"Considering I've witnessed how you act first hand," Matt told her upset. "maybe whatever it was that happened to Mom's son _was_ your fault."

Sissy's eyes dilated with the letter dropping from her hands. Her body began to tremble with a visible tear falling down onto the Mom's letter that now rested on the floor. Regret soon hit Matt, realizing that he had gone way too far. With her head lowered, Matt raised his hand towards her.

Sissy's rage suddenly took over.

Her eyes looked up at him with Matt seeing the anger and hurt inside them.

Without even thinking, she bared her teeth at him, pulling her arm back. Everyone watched as her fist flew towards Matt's face at a devastating speed. In shock, Emie watched Matt literally get hit off his feet from her punch with a crunching sound being heard. As if in slow motion, Emie watched horrified as Matt fell to the floor, landing on his back with his hat landing on the ground behind him. Sissy had realized what she had done far too late, mortified by her own natural reaction.

Everyone stared at Sissy stunned as she held her fist closed still, watching terrified as Matt painfully got himself up off the floor. Slowly, he pulled his body up, showing his face to everyone. The punch was so intense that it had broken skin, leaving a small ring of blood around his left eye. Sissy quickly looked at her fist, seeing his blood her furry knuckles. Her ears folded back sheepishly.

Matt didn't say a single word to her. He dusted his jacket off and turned away, leaving his hat on the floor, heading for his room as everyone watched him silently make his way there. The sound of the rain hitting against the window in the main suite room overshadowed the silent void, soon with Matt closing his bedroom door behind him. Sissy's ears were still completely folded back. How could have done what she did? Even _she_ didn't know the answer to that.

Emie looked at her completely flabbergasted. Her fists tightened, soon with Shade having to hold onto her before she lunged for Sissy, who in return just watched her flail her arms about. Bomber soon had to join in on holding her back as well. Tears ran down her face and pure hatred in her eyes.

"Emie hates Sissy!" she cried. "Emie **hates**__Sissy! Emie and Sissy will never _ever_ be friends!"

Emie finally broke free of them, crying hysterically for herself as well as the punishment Matt had received for sticking up for her. She ran off crying towards Matt's room, slamming the door behind her. Everyone looked at the door, then over to Sissy confused. Her ears were completely folded back still, unable to look anyone directly in the eye.

"I didn't mean it..." She said not even above that of a whisper.

At that moment, Laurence exited Rachel's room with his book still in hand.

"Is everything alright?" he asked worried.

Nobody said anything. They all just stared at Sissy who in return stared down at the letter Matt had let her read, completely ashamed of her actions.

_**It**_ was fairly quiet the rest of that evening. Darrell had returned to the suite, but headed off to his and Doug's room, saying that he was incredibly tired. In truth, he was incredibly ashamed of the fact that he was now working for Hugo. Even if he wanted to go back to working with Team Rocket, working for Hugo was another story.

Sissy was sitting at the fold out table near the kitchen area, unable to handle what she had done. She had let her anger get the best of her once again, but this time there was no apologizing for her rash actions. The subject of Mom's son had always been a touchy one around her, but did she really have to punch Matt for saying what he did? She lowered her head even lower to the table. Maybe it really was her fault that Mom's son died...

Bomber was sitting on the couch next to Shade while Otto and Doug played video games together. They had all forcibly acted like nothing had happened. Rachel was making herself busy by drawing in a notebook she had in her backpack meant for her sketches, sitting on the other section of the large couch by herself.

"You look damn sexy in that form." Shade said flirtatiously to Bomber, putting her hand on his chest. "I bet you'd look even better without that jumpsuit."

Bomber awkwardly wiggled away from her, only to have her come onto him even more.

"So hows that whole 'not straight' thing working out for you?" Otto joked, playing the original Super Smash Brothers against Doug, who was losing horribly. Shade looked over at him, sticking out her tongue, also being a light purple color like the rest of her body, hair, and long shirt.

"This is amazing!" Doug told Otto as his character, being Yoshi, was being thrown across the map. "I've never seen anything like this game before!"

"It's sorta old," Otto said as he made his character, Caption Falcon, punch Yoshi, making him fly across the stage once again. "but it's a classic nonetheless."

"I've never heard of any of these games you have before." Doug told him. Otto and Rachel looked at him funny.

"For real?" Rachel asked him, twirling the pen she was drawing with around her finger. "Even _I_ know half of these games."

"You're forgetting one thing." Otto told her as he looked over to her. She raised an eyebrow at him, twirling her pen once more.

"And that is?" she questioned.

"'We're not in Kansas anymore.'" Otto quoted jokingly from the wizard of Oz. Rachel got the reference and understood what he meant by it. Considering they were from another universe, it was no wonder Doug didn't know any of these games. Naturally, Doug looked at Otto confused.

"What's Kansas?" he asked him. Otto and Rachel both laughed, making Doug wonder even more.

"Never mind." Otto told him, punching Doug's Yoshi once again in the game.

Shade was making another flirtatious advance on Bomber. She boldly made her way on top of him, straddling Bomber with her knees against the couch and her front facing him. She smiled playfully as Bomber's face grew red behind the feathers on his face. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on his shoulders.

"I can't get over how sexy you look." she told him with a giggle, clearly having too much fun messing with him. "I'm tempted to just tear that jumpsuit off you right now."

Bomber looked over at Otto, Doug, and Rachel as if for assistance.

Surly they would help him out, right?"

"How to you do you grab people again?" Doug asked. Otto pointed at one of the buttons on his controller with Doug watching him.

"This one." Otto explained. Rachel started grumbling as she drew with her pen.

"Stupid lips..." she muttered to herself. "I can never get them right..."

With nobody even paying attention to him or Shade, Bomber awkwardly stared back at her as she moved her face close to his, getting only about an inch away from his beak.

"Oh man," she told him, adjusting her hips against his with Bomber getting even redder. "You know what I wanna do? I'd love to take your di-"

"Ah crap!" Otto groaned as Shade kept talking dirty to Bomber, who's eyes got wide with his beak hanging open as she kept talking. "Stupid explosives!"

"Wait, what?" Doug mumbled, looking at his controller as if he had done some special move. "What'd I do?..."

"You threw a damn mine down and blew me off the map!"

Doug blinked, watching as Otto's character flew off screen with a sudden flash of light showing that he had blasted off into the distance.

"Oh..." he responded. Rachel kept drawing, looking more focused than ever.

"I **will** get these stupid lips right." she told herself, carefully going over them again and again with her pen. Shade was still talking dirty to Bomber, finishing what she said she'd like to do with him.

"-so far up there my legs would go numb." she finished, winking at him. "How's that sound?"

She felt something poking her butt. It didn't take her long to realize Bomber had gotten an erection, whether he wanted one or not. Shade blushed, feeling flattered.

"Aww," she said with some of her pale purple skin turning barely a tint redder. "that's so sweet of you!"

Bomber didn't say anything to her, quickly looking away.

"Would you please stop teasing me?..." he asked her kindly. "I don't think I can handle to much more of this..."

Shade smiled at him, more excited than Bomber understood why. She reached for the zipper of the jumpsuit.

"You read my mind, you sexy beast!" she told him playfully. Bomber quickly shook his head, fighting with her as she tried to unzip his jumpsuit.

"That's not what I meant!" Bomber panicked, soon falling off the couch with Shade still on top of him. The two of them struggled as everyone kept going about what they were doing, as if nothing were happening. The door to Rachel's room opened once more with Laurence exiting, this time without the book with him. With smile, he approached Rachel, who in return smiled back at him.

"I see you're still drawing." he said to her. "How is your masterpiece coming along?"

Rachel got a kick out of that when he called it a masterpiece.

"Oh, I'm just doodling I guess." she told him, wondering what was on his mind. "What's up?"

"I was just wanting to inform you that I need to take care of urgent business." Laurence told her with a cheerful smile "I hope you wouldn't be to displeased if I were gone for the night."

Rachel stared at him with Otto glancing over as well while still playing against Doug.

"The entire night?" Rachel asked him as if she had misheard. Laurence frowned as if he felt guilty for abandoning her for so long.

"Yes, mistress," he told her sounding almost rueful. "the entire night."

"What is it that you have to do exactly?" she asked him. Laurence once again frowned, almost saddened that he couldn't tell her.

"Please forgive me," he told her, "but the matter is rather personal. I hope this doesn't upset you."

Rachel shrugged unsure.

"If it's personal then it's personal." she told him. "I've got no reason to pry in your business."

Laurence smiled at her warmly, pleased that she wasn't angered or upset in any way.

"Thank you, my Lady." he told her. "I shall see you tomorrow."

And with that, Laurence quickly made his way to the door, leaving shortly after. Otto looked at Rachel concerned, watching as she went back to her drawing.

"Aren't you curious as to what he's doing?" Otto asked her. She didn't bother looking up at him, carefully penning out a few lines in an attempt to make a face.

"He said it was personal." she told him bluntly. "I think it's only fair that I let him have his privacy."

Doug, he was now also looking over at Rachel with the game paused, frowned in her direction as she kept doodling contently.

"It does seem a bit odd that he's going out to do business this late at night, don't you think?"

Rachel just shrugged it off, not even really caring.

"Like I said," she told them. "it's none of my business."

The entire time they were talking, Shade was still trying to get Bomber out of his jumpsuit, still on top of him as he struggled.

"Stop it!" Bomber begged her. "This isn't right!"

"Don't fight it, lover!" She giggled. "You know you want this as bad as I do!"

Sissy the entire time was lost in her own thoughts, wondering what to do. She couldn't just sit there. She _had_ to apologize to Matt, even if he wouldn't except it, and honestly, Sissy wouldn't blame him if he didn't. Standing up, she made her way across the suite with the sounds of Bomber and Shade struggling mixed with the video game's violence taking place. Nobody even saw her make her way to the door.

She put her hand on the doorknob and froze when she heard Matt and Emie speaking.

Matt and Emie were sitting on the bed with Matt letting Emie sit in his lap as she cried. She hadn't stopped ever since she stormed off after Matt, balling her eyes out without even a moments pause. Even if she was that of a physically matured female, she had the mind set of a child's, making her emotions even stronger.

"Emie just wants to be treated nice!" she cried. "Why does Sissy have to be so mean?!"

Matt sighed, still with his arms wrapped around her waist she she held onto him and literally cried on his shoulder.

"I said some very hurtful things to Sissy." he explained to her. "I don't want you being mad at her for what she did to me."

Emie looked at him with tears in her eyes, now with Matt having a black eye from where Sissy had punched him.

"But Sissy hit Matt..." She told him upset. "And Sissy is mean to Emie!"

Matt once again sighed, holding onto Emie still.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Matt asked her sounding like an adult would say to a child. Emie stared at him, finally nodding her head. "I don't think Sissy really hates you or me."

Emie's ears twitched with the most perplexed expression coming over her face.

"Matt doesn't?" she asked him. He nodded, moving one of his hands up to her head and scratching behind her ear to comfort her.

"No, I don't." he assured her. "I think Sissy just hurts inside and doesn't know how to let her feelings out properly. I don't think she knows how to be anything but angry towards people because she's hurting inside."

Emie looked down as if pouting, then glanced back up to Matt as he continued to scratch behind her ear.

"Emie still doesn't like Sissy..." she grumbled.

"I understand," he told her. "but can you do me a favor?"

Emie once again paused, looking deeply into Matt's eyes.

"If you don't have anything nice to say to her," Matt told her, "then don't say anything at all, okay?"

Emie nodded her head, still looking at Matt's black eye. She moved closer to him, giving him a tight hug. Matt hugged her back, hearing her start purring. Out of the corner of his eye, Matt noticed her tail slowly waving side to side, something he'd rarely see her tail do. She pulled back her head from the hug, looking back into his eyes with neither of them saying a word. Emie moved forward, giving Matt a very loving and affectionate kiss on the lips. She moved her head back, staring into his eyes again.

"Emie wants to make Matt feel better..." she told him, sounding strangely like she had early that day when she bit on his ear. She moved in once again, kissing him on the lips, but this time making it last much longer. Before Matt knew what was going on, he felt her tongue in his mouth, motioning against his. He put his hands on her hips, kissing her back.

Taking charge, she moved forward on top of him as she pushed him gently onto his back. The two of them began kissing for a third time, even more passionate than the last. The feeling of her body against hers made Matt feel warm both literally and emotionally. There was a certain serenity when she was close to him, even more so when their bodies were engaged with one another. Matt started moving his hand against her body.

But then suddenly stopped.

Emie stopped kissing him, looking at Matt confused. He softly pushed against her, making the two of them sit up again. With a frown, he shook his head at her.

"I can't." he told her. Emie didn't understand.

"Why can't Matt?" she asked him hurt. Matt looked down at the bed with sad eyes.

"It wouldn't be fair to Sissy..." He told her honestly. There was a silence pause with Emie starting to get misty eyed again, having the feeling of rejection shattering her emotions.

"Sissy _punched_ Matt." she reminded him. "Sissy has been _mean_ to Matt. Sissy has _yelled_ at Matt."

Emie stared at him clearly hurt with Matt almost unable to look at her.

"Why would Matt care about Sissy if Sissy wasn't more important than Emie?..." she asked him, for the first time since Matt had met her sounding cold towards him.

"That's not what I mean, Emie." Matt tried to tell her. "Would it be fair to _you_ if Sissy and I had sex? It's not fair for either of you."

Emie sluggishly got herself up off of the bed and Matt's lap, giving him the most hurt look he had ever since in his life.

"Emie really doesn't mean anything to Matt, does Emie?" she asked him with a harsh tone. She walked away from Matt, heading towards the door as he hung his head. Sissy quickly backed away from the door, having heard everything that was said and done thanks to her acute hearing.

Emie opened the door, wiping the tears from her eyes. She was a little surprised to see Sissy standing there with her ears folded back. She could tell by her expression that Sissy had been listening. Emie glared at her, forcing herself to be angry instead of hurt.

"Emie hopes Sissy is happy with herself." Emie told her coldly. "Matt doesn't care about Emie thanks to Sissy."

"I...I'm sorry..." Sissy told her, who was a little surprised as to Matt's reaction as well. "I didn't mean to ruin anything between you two..."

Emie took a deep breath, staring Sissy down.

"Emie doesn't have anything nice to say to Sissy..." she told her, shortly afterward walking past her. Sissy looked down at the floor with her ears still folded back.

The rain outside wasn't letting up any either...


	43. Chapter 43

_**Chapter 43**_

_**Three**_ more days passed with the rain still coming down just as hard as it had been the past week- maybe even harder. The crew had been doing their own things: Sissy and Bomber trained with each other, Otto played video games with Doug, Laurence read books, Rachel drew in her notebook, Darrell kept busy working for Hugo, Shade watched Otto and Doug play games in boredom, Matt sat in his room alone to contemplate things, and Emie sulked, spending most of her time sleeping behind the couch.

The entire time Sissy would spar and practice with Bomber, there was a lost look in her eyes. She wasn't on a 100% effort level, holding back in her attacks simply become her mind wasn't fully there at the time. Bomber knew it, but refused to call her out on it. If she wanted to talk about it she would have to be the one to bring it up. Not him. The last thing he wanted was to upset her. There had been enough drama during the week and he didn't intend on adding to it.

Bomber returned to his beast form during those three days, preferring it over his anthro form due to the fact that he felt more comfortable that way. Not to mention didn't have Shade trying to molest him...as much. He kept his navy blue aviator cap with goggles on it, now with them adjusting to his larger size. Even the goggles themselves grew, which was probably one of the coolest things he'd ever seen in his life. Needless to say, he was inseparable with the cap.

Otto had been playing a different game each day with Doug, having Shade watch as she leaned her head on her hand in dissatisfaction. Most of the games Otto picked either had a male character she thought was stupid, a plot she couldn't come even remotely close to following, or was just plain tedious to watch. Otto didn't really pay attention to her mumbling and heckling, more focused on playing the games. Doug tried his best to keep up with him, only matching a fraction of Otto's gaming skills, but was slowly getting the hang of things.

As stated before, Rachel spent most of the time drawing. She sketched in pencil, sometimes pen if she was feeling brave enough, sighing when she looked up to the window to see it still raining. Rachel would constantly adjust herself on the couch, squirming around and pulling her shirt down, feeling as if it kept riding up her back when she leaned against the couch with Laurence, who sat beside her, keeping his eyes on his book. Laurence would seldom blink, turning the page with care, as if not wanting to damage to books he had borrowed from the Pokemon center Library, which was something none of them, being the crew, even knew existed.

Emie was as motionless as stone. She laid behind the couch in her beast form, which she had chosen to be in during the past few days after Matt had refused to have sex with her. She left her clothes in a wad in Matt's bathroom on the floor under the towel rack. The only time she moved with to go to the bathroom, which made everyone question if she was still in her beast form went she 'went'. It was mostly something Shade thought about since she had nothing better to occupy her mind with. She swore her mind was rotting away the longer she watched Otto and Doug play games. Emie ate practically nothing during that time. She was also larger now too, being about three feet tall on all fours, making Matt curious as to why.

Hardly eating or sleeping, Matt sat on his bed most of those three days. He would stare out the window in his room, watching the rain dance down the glass. It reminded him of the shower water. His thoughts would then drift to him and Emie taking showers together. Sissy still didn't sleep on the bed even with Emie not sleeping in the room anymore, too ashamed to even look at Matt. In a curled ball, she slept on the floor in the corner like she usually did. Just like Emie, she too had grown a solid foot in her beast form, now being about five feet tall. Matt couldn't understand why Emie and Sissy had gotten larger.

**A Pokemon represents itself more literally in it's beast form, showing it's true nature. Most of us have heard phrases about 'growing' stronger or 'growing' mature. For Pokemon in their beast forms, this is typically true in a literal sense. Some Pokemon are meant to be smaller or larger than others, having an average height, weight, etc. If a Pokemon in it's beast form is larger or generally different than it's norm, this is (typically) a sign of personal growth. There are other aspects and variables to this rule, just like how having a high UMP tolerance usually shows in the eyes of the beast form by becoming more radiant and greater intelligence may show by lighter or darker fur/hair color.**

Matt paid not heed to the voice he had heard, flopping back on his bed in frustration.

"_**Damn.**_" Otto sighed as he let the controller drop to his lap. "All we've been doing is sit on our asses and play games. I'm starting to get sick of this."

"Agreed." Shade mumbled to herself sarcastically.

Doug, glancing over at Otto with bloodshot eyes, nodded his head sluggishly.

"With not having to work anymore it seems I've had too much time to play as well." Doug told him, blinking with his eyes burning slightly. Rachel looked up from her notebook, still with her pencil in hand, staring at Doug curiously.

"I've been meaning to ask why." she told him. "Did Darrell find better work?"

Doug frowned, setting the controller down in his lap slightly femininely.

"I wouldn't say _better_," Doug stated opinionated. "but he found one better paying. I told him I'd be more than will to keep working to help out, but he keeps telling me-" Doug cleared his throat, changing his voice to Darrell's "I can handle it, don't get your undies in a bunch!"

Otto, Rachel, Shade, and even Laurence who set down his book from surprise, stared at Doug impressed by his impersonation. It was flawless, sounding exactly like Darrell's voice.

"Holy shit." Shade said with wide eyes. "That was really good."

Doug smiled at her, clearing his voice once again to readjust it.

"It's alright I guess." he told her, sounding literally just like Shade. If you didn't know any better, it was like Shade had possessed him momentarily. Her face lit up, bouncing up and down on the couch with a large smile.

"Oh my gosh that was awesome!" she cried. Rachel couldn't help but laugh, setting down her notebook and pencil.

"What about me?" Rachel asked him. Doug grinned, clearing his voice once again.

"Matt!" Doug said loudly, sounding just like Rachel. "Quit being such a dumbass and think for once!"

Rachel was blown away, having the largest smile on her face. Laurence stroked his chin, amazed by such talent.

"How on earth do you do that?" Laurence asked him. Doug cleared his voice once again, turning his head to make eye contact with him.

"It's really not that difficult," he told him, sounding flawlessly like Laurence, even by the way he spoke. "With enough practice it becomes comes second nature. You see, what is even more difficult to do is to speak in identical mannerisms with the one you wish to impersonate. Wouldn't you agree, sir?"

Laurence blinked, having a bewildered look on his face.

"Never have I heard my voice so perfectly imitated before." Laurence stated. He thought about it, stroking his chin once again. "Well, there _was_ that one man who tried. Poor fool lost his tongue because of it too. Such a sad day."

Rachel looked at Laurence blankly, wondering if he were 'joking' again.

"Can you do me?" Otto asked him. Again, Doug cleared his throat.

"Sure can." Doug said sounding like Otto, just as perfect as the other impersonations.

Shade snapped her fingers, getting another idea.

"How 'bout Emie?" Shade asked him getting excited. Emie, who was resting behind the couch, heard her named called with her ears twitching. She opened her eyes, blinking slowly with crust in her eyes from all the sleep she had been doing..

"Of course Emie can sound like Emie!" Doug said sounding just like her, even the way she spoke. Emie's eye's soon shot up with her standing up on all fours. She stood on her hind legs, putting her front paws on the back of the couch with her tail flicking and the bell on her collar jingling, looking for where here voice had come from.

"Emie heard Emie's voice!" She said panicked. Doug turned around to face her, seeing Emie in her beast form with her paws in the back of the couch.

"Hi Emie!" Doug said to her, stilling sounding like Emie. "Doug sounds like Emie now!"

She was mortified with tears forming in her eyes. Everyone was laughing with Doug, not noticing how upset Emie was. First Matt didn't care about her, now her _voice_ was being taken? Was Emie even needed anymore? Doug was the first to notice tears run down her cat-like face with her ears folding back. Emie dropped back behind the couch and started crying.

"Emie doesn't wanna be replaced!" She sobbed. Doug soon realized what he had done, regretting talking like her. If he would have know her reaction he'd never have done the voice in the first place!

"No, no!" he said to her as she sobbed behind the couch, using his normal voice. "Emie, I'm not replacing you!"

"Yes Dougy is!" she cried. "Emie isn't wanted anymore!"

"Emie," Rachel said, unable to see Emie from her position, though could still hear her crying. "why do you think none of us want you anymore?"

"Because Emie is st_ooo_pid!" she sobbed, covering her face with her paws. "Emie isn't a human, or a princess, or a ninja, or anything! Emie is just dumb, old Emie!"

At that instant, the suite door opened with Bomber and Sissy entering. Sissy, who was still depressed about the past events, came in with her head lowered with Bomber not sure if he should remain silent about how she was feeling. The sound of tears caught his attention right as he came in however, seeing Emie crying once again.

"Emie?" He said surprised. "Why are you-"

"Nobody likes Emie!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Emie is a dummy head!"

She darted off, running for Otto's open room. She charged inside it, with the sound of sobbing echoing within for a moment. Then silence.

Bomber sighed with Sissy lost in her own little world, walking towards the kitchen area where the fold out table was. Making his way in front of the couch, he looked at everyone, seeing that they were all frowning.

"_Now_ what happened?" Bomber asked. Doug sighed, looking like he had just committed a felony.

"Emie thinks I'm going to replace her because I can do impersonations."

Bomber stared at him. Then at everyone, scanning around at all of them. He suddenly slapped his wing against his forehead with a loud groan.

"Is it just me or is everyone having some sort of life crisis?" Bomber asked them. "Either that or they have some dark and troubled past they refuse to tell anyone about."

Everyone looked at each other, all frowning. Even Sissy lowered her head, hiding it from everyone as she sat at the foldout kitchen table

"Maybe It's because I wasn't abused when I was young and actually had a decent life," Bomber told everyone, "but you guys seriously need to cheer the hell up. Matt's hasn't hardly left his room in days, Sissy been completely out of it mentally, Emie's been crying so much I'm surprised it hasn't flooded, Rachel's had issues about her self image, Otto's been going unheard and unnoticed, Doug and Darrell I'm sure have more baggage than they're willing to admit from what I've witnessed, and Laurence says some of the scariest shit I've ever heard from time to time about lobbing off body parts- no offense or anything, Laurence."

"None taken." Laurence told him sounding a little saddened, even if it was true. Shade stood up with her large shirt looking slightly wrinkled due to the position she'd been previously been sitting in.

"And my lover has rejected me!" She added playfully, not taking him seriously at all. Bomber looked at her nervously as she gazed at him with sad eyes. With a sniffle, she forced herself to start crying. Bomber started feeling guilty, even if she'd done this a million times to him.

"Shade," he told her sounding sad. "I don't know how to respond to that. Sometimes I can't tell if you're joking or not."

Shade dramatically moved her head to the side with a forced tear landing on the floor with her eyes closed.

"Our love is a joke?" she said as if she were preforming on a theater stage. Now Bomber was _really_ unsure as to what to think.

"Shade..." he told her. "as convincing as that might sound, I'm gonna take a wild guess that you're just pulling my feathers..."

She opened one of her eyes, holding back a smile.

"Why not find out for yourself?!" she asked him, suddenly leaping towards him. Bomber was tackled by Shade, landing on his back as Shade tightly hugged his large body. With her body grinding against his, it looked a little wrong.

"If you two are gonna screw," Rachel said half serious, "could you please at least do it somewhere private?"

Shade turned her head towards Rachel as Bomber panicked beneath her, too kind to hit her off of him in fear he'd hurt her.

"Can I borrow your room?" Shade asked her politely. "I won't even use your bed; it's much kinkier on the floor."

Rachel blinked, not sure if she should be encouraging the fact that she was practically molesting Bomber as he flailed about beneath her.

"Just try to clean up after yourself..." Rachel told her. "Assuming you're not joking..."

"What?!" Bomber panicked. "No! Gah, this isn't right! I thought you said you were gay!"

Shade leaned closer to him with a saucy smile.

"That's what makes it even sexier..." she told him with a wink. Bomber finally couldn't handle it anymore, jolting upwards with Shade landing on her butt. Like a bat flying out of hell, Bomber took off flying, nearly bashing into the suite door. He quickly opened it, escaping from Shade as she sat there on the floor, laughing her ass off. Everyone looked at her as if she were crazy. Laurence however just went back to his book, paying her no attention.

"I thought you were serious for a moment." Rachel told her. Shade wiped her eyes free of the tears she had from all of her laughing.

"He's so fun to mess with!" she laughed. "Bomber's just so innocent he doesn't know what to think when I'm screwing with him."

Otto looked at her, drawing his head back slightly with a questioning look.

"Are we talking literally or figuratively?..." he asked her, wondering if she'd actually do something like that to him. She narrowed her eyes at him as if disappointed that he couldn't tell.

"Oh, come on," she told him. "I'm only joking around with him."

"I dunno." Rachel said adding her own two cents about the matter. "The way you act around him you'd think you were actually wanting to do more than just joke, if you catch my drift."

Shade rolled her eyes with a laugh.

"Yeah right," she told him, "saying I'm straight would be like saying _Doug_ is straight."

Doug frowned at her as if hurt rather than offended.

"But...I _am_ straight..." he told her. Shade looked at him with smile on her face. The longer she stared at him, seeing that he was serious, her smile shrunk, soon with a frown taking it's place.

"Wait, seriously?..." Shade responded surprised.

_**It**_ was now late, nearing eleven at night with everyone except Shade still in the suite's main room. With everyone having either gone to bed in their rooms or out on business, being Laurence as well as Darrell, she was the only one. Laurence had once again told Rachel he needed to take care of something. Darrell didn't say what he was doing, though didn't too happy about whatever it was.

She had just been sitting there thinking to herself about what Bomber had said. He was right: everyone of them except for him either had some dark past or was having some life crisis. The rain kept at it's downpour, being the only sound in the dark room. Her past was possibly darker than anyone had actually taken the time to think about. She might not have been as bad as Laurence, but she certainly hadn't been a saint in her past life.

"Why am I thinking about that crap?" she asked herself in the dark, reaching for the remote for the television. It wasn't worth troubling herself with. Why think about something she couldn't change? Instead of worrying about her faults, she turned on the television and started flipping through the channels. Nothing she saw caught her interest. She kept flipping through the channels, grabbing at her crotch with an irritated sigh. She'd been so horny the past few days it was almost unbearable.

"This sucks..." she mumbled. "I haven't gotten off in what feels like forever..."

Realization struck her as soon as she stated that.

She was completely alone with television at her disposal.

"I wonder..." she murmured. She scanned through the channels a little faster now, curious as to how many channels there were. And of what. Maybe if she was lucky she could find some infomercial for bra's or something. Anything that could 'spark interests' would be enough. Suddenly, she found a channel that was much more 'different' from the rest. Ironically enough it was channel 69. With a little warning about graphic content, Shade smiled at the title "Umbreon in Heat 37."

The "movie" started with an Umbreon in it's anthropomorphic form sitting on the edge of a pool, seldom kicking her feet that were in the water. She had dark fur with yellow circles of fur on parts of her body being her large ears, her thighs, her arms, the middle of her chest, and a small one on her forehead. She was wearing a red swimsuit, which was too small on her DD-sized breasts and wide hips. Her eyes were a deep red, matching her swimsuit.

Shade watched as the Umbreon motioned her feet in the water with the sexy anthropomorphic Pokemon placed her hand between her legs, resting her hand on her crotch. Slowly, the camera began to zoom in on her, watching her begin to motion her finger across the front of her of her bathing suit, teasing herself. Not only was she teasing herself, but she was teasing Shade, making her start to do the same. Without any underwear to begin with, Shade started to toy with the lips of her love canal that soon began to get wet from anticipation.

She kept lightly playing with herself as she watched the Umbreon keep doing this. The Umbreon's tail, being a few feet long and slightly fluffy, began to wag side to side as she sat on the edge of the pool in the early stages of masturbating herself. From nowhere, a male voice called out to the Umbreon.

"Sarah?" a male called, coming on camera. He had an average build, short hair, and had a slightly tan complexion. Wearing only swimming trunks, he approached her with the Umbreon with her instantly stopping in shock. The male saw where he hands were, realizing what she was doing. For a porno, the acting wasn't half bad.

"W-what were you doing?" he asked her surprised. The Umbreon blushed behind her dark fur, looking away from him embarrassed.

"U-umbre...on" she said. Being a Haunter and knowing the Pokemon language, Shade translated it as "_N-nothing..._"

The Umbreon's shyness turned Shade on even more, soon with her fingering herself with her middle finger entering her vagina, moving back and forth- in and out.

The male, presumably her trainer, stood her up with the Umbreon hiding her face from him.

"You were doing more than nothing." he told her seriously. "I'm not stupid."

He suddenly grabbed one of her breasts, making the Umbreon sharply inhale from the sudden physical pressure mixed with surprise. The male had a lustful look in his eye with the camera focused on the two of them even more now as he pulled up on her swimsuit top, reviling her large boobs. They bounced when he tore off her top with the nipples behind her fur poking out from her arousal.

With a sense of paranoia, Shade felt like she was being watched, but told herself it was just fear getting the best of her. She closed her eyes momentarily to focus. Her long shirt faded away, absorbing into her body. Now completely naked, Shade sat there on the couch with her finger still pleasuring her. With her other hand, she reached up and pinched her nipple with a sudden spasm of her body. Having a moderate B-size chest (though she never wore a bra to begin with) she toyed with her breast, squeezing it and sometimes pinching her nipple.

"You should have just asked me..." he man told the Umbreon seductively. Shade watched as he pulled down her swimsuit bottom, reviling her sexy butt. It was actually kinda cute, making Shade giggle to herself. Her giggling was interrupted by her quickly jerking back after touching her clitoris. There was a moment of foreplay as the male lowered the Umbreon down near the poolside, moving his head between her legs. The Umbreon gasped, making a cute squeak as he started preforming oral on her. Her thighs clapped around his head uncontrollably as she clenched her face from the ecstasy of his tongue sliding across the lips of her privates.

Shade accidentally let out a moan of pleasure as she fingered herself, still toying with her breast and nipple. The man had now moved the Umbreon to her side, lifting her leg over his shoulder as he pounded into her. With every thrust and movement the Umbreon squeaked with her eyes losing focus as the camera was pointed at her. The Umbreon was so lost in the sex she had her mouth hung open, showing that she was salivating from the pleasure.

Now fingering herself at a faster pace, Shade, arched her back forward a little, every now and then rubbed her clit for extra stimulus. The sound of the Umbreon panting made Shade go even faster. Her upper back started feeling a little warm with her forearm, the one she was masturbating with, start to feel a little sore from the constant moving of her fingers and hand. She warmth and soreness only made her want to keep going, enjoying both feelings.

The male and the sexy Umbreon switched potions once again, now with the Umbreon riding on top of him cowgirl style. The camera was focused on the Umbreon's ass, watching as it jiggled every time it slapped against the male's pelvis. Her tail was raised high, twitching just as much as her ass rippled. The dark fur near her nether region was completely soaked. Shade felt herself getting fairly close to climaxing.

"Shade-Shade?..."

Shade literally jumped in her spot, twisting around with her chest covered. She saw that Emie, still in her beast form, was poking up from behind the couch. Emie was blushing, seeing what was on TV along with seeing Shade trying to cover her naked body. It was hard for her to act natural with the sound of fucking going on behind her as she stared at Emie.

"W-where did you come from?" Shade asked objectively.

"Emie was sleeping behind the couch..." Emie told her.

Shade had completely forgotten that she had been doing that for the past few nights, feeling like a complete idiot.

"O-oh..." she said awkwardly. There was a silent void with the sound of sex filling it. Emie didn't know what to say or do, soon getting distracted by seeing the Umbreon getting nailed. Shade turned back around, sinking into the couch with her eyes closed in embarrassment. She'd been caught with her pants down. Literally. Well, she had been caught with her shirt off...

"D-don't tell anybody what I was doing... Please..."

She didn't hear Emie say anything for a little while. The sound of her leaping over onto the couch made her reopen her eyes. Emie sat beside her in her beast form, suddenly changing into her anthro form. Shade opened her eyes, soon blushing when she saw Emie's naked body. Her hands were in her lap with Emie not even bothering to cover her chest. Why she had changed forms confused Shade, though she certainly wasn't going to complain.

"What was Shade-Shade doing?..." Emie asked, sounding shy. Shade swallowed, trying to not stare at Emie's tits. She felt herself sink lower into the couch.

"Isn't it obvious?..." Shade asked her sheepishly. Emie looked at Shade's chest, soon looking away blushing. Emie slowly nodded her head, reviling she wasn't completely naïve about everything.

"Emie thinks Shade-Shade is very pretty..." Emie admitted shyly, getting multiple hues redder behind her tan fur. Shade blushed, feeling flattered.

"Thanks." Shade responded. She suddenly chuckled to herself with her awkwardness slowly disappearing gradually. "You're incredibly sexy yourself..."

Emie glanced over at her, trying to keep eye contact. Her upper canine tooth protruded as she smiled shyly at Shade.

"Emie had been watching Shade-Shade..." She admitted shamefully, still blushing. Shade too blushed even more, still with the porn playing in the background.

"Um...what'd you think?..." Shade asked her, soon regretting her poor choice of words. What the hell kind of weirdo question was that? Surprisingly, Emie didn't think it was that weird of a question. She hunched over a little, unintentionally squishing her C-cup size breasts together with her arms.

"Emie thinks Shade-Shade makes sexy noises..." Emie giggled bashfully. Shade couldn't help but giggle too. The two of them awkwardly sat there besides each other, looking at the porn being played. The Umbreon was being penetrated while the male trainer was on top of her, doing it doggy style. Her tits were pressed against the ground with her panting even more.

Shade glanced over at Emie, seeing that both of her hands were slightly motioning as they rested in her lap. She started getting herself off once again as she watched Emie waver slightly back and forth with her eyes half lidded. Her mouth barely hung open with her tongue sticking slightly, making her look as adorable as ever, not noticing what Shade was doing.

Emie's breasts looked astounding, as if they were just waiting to be groped. Shade watched as Emie's tail that rested beside her would twitch as she pleasured herself. Shade couldn't help but watch, unable to control herself. She couldn't help it any longer. Her natural instincts started to kick in.

Shade tackled Emie down onto the couch, lying on top of her front. Emie was a little caught off guard, blushing when she saw the lustful look in Shade's light red eyes. It took her a while of staring before Shade soon remembered what she was doing had gotten her to be a Haunter in the first place. She felt guilty, frowning at Emie.

"I-I'm sorry..." Shade apologized. "I just couldn't control myself. I know you're bi and, well, you're really _really_ fuckin' hot. I've been pent up and you obviously haven't gotten any lately. I know this is incredibly forward of me and I'll stop if you-"

Emie didn't let her finish, reaching up behind Shade's head and pulling her down, kissing her. Shade blushed from the surprise with her eyes wide open as Emie closed her's contently. Emie stopped kissing her, reopening her eyes to see the shocked look on Shade's face. Unable to not smirk, Emie giggled at her.

"Emie think's Shade-Shade talks to much sometimes..." Emie told her. The two of them smiled at each other, soon with Emie letting out a moan as Shade gripped her breasts. She started playing with them happily as Emie made erotic sounds of delight. The more Shade played with Emie's tits the more she wished her bust size was bigger.

"There's so much to play with." Shade laughed. "I wish I had a rack like yours..."

Suddenly, Shade let out a loud gasp from the feeling of something entering her snatch. Emie, even as she was enduring Shade messing around with her boobs, had managed to move her slender tall out from beneath her and into Shade's puss. Having amazing control over her tail, Emie started thrusting it in shade like a sex toy. It wasn't long before Shade was unable to keep playing with Emie's boobs, forced to lower herself on top of her from the euphoric feeling with their breasts pushing against each others.

Shade started panting with half lidded eyes, watching as Emie smiled almost sadistically at her. Taking charge, Emie pulled Shade's face to hers once again, kissing her for a second time as her tail kept ramming into Shade's love hole.

All of a sudden, Shade jolted her head back with a rush of bodily fluid gushed out from her, soaking Emie's already dampened tail. She couldn't keep her head up, resting it on Emie's soft chest, feeling one of her nipples poking the side of her face. She could hear Emie giggling, making her tits bounce a little.

"Emie got to be in charge..." She giggled. Shade looked from her chest, still exhausted, glaring at Emie playfully.

"Who said we were finished?" Shade asked her. "You haven't gotten off yet..."

Emie blinked, watching Shade turn slightly transparent. Unable to do anything to prevent it, Emie watched at Shade entered her body, soon with Shade taking control. In her newly acquired body, Shade grabbed Emie's breasts with Emie and her sharing the same body. Emie let out a moan as Shade played with them some more.

"_They're so soft_." Shade thought inside Emie's head. She moved her hand down between Emie's legs, rubbing her cunt sadistically as Emie's pleasure intensified by twice the normal feeling. With Shade's mind and feelings making Emie's sense of touch increase to a higher state than it had ever been, she felt everything more vividly. Every motion went distinctly noticed and every prod of her fingers made her gasp from the sudden sexual joy she was undergoing. Still in control of Emie's body, Shade began to move Emie's tail about, trying to get a feel for it while she fingered Emie with her own fingers.

"_So this is what it's like to have a tail, huh?_" Shade thought inside her head with Emie gasping as Shade managed to move it into her own snatch. At first, it was a little awkward, but Shade soon got the hang of jerking it back in forth through Emie's hole. As she did this, Shade made her put one hand on her nipple to pinch it and the other down to her clitoris to rub as she pleasured Emie with her own tail. With so much pleasure at once, Emie's body violently started shaking and convulsing. A large amount of cum drained from her, running down over her ass and dripping onto the couch cushion below her as she let out a sexy moan.

Emie felt like she was about to pass out from all the intense orgasm she'd been put through, feeling her body tingle all over. Shade exited Emie's body, laying back on top of her like she had down before, with the largest smile on her face. She too was exhausted from the joint orgasm they had just shared, hardly able to keep her eyes open.

"That...was...awesome..." Shade said very drawn out. Emie was so tired she couldn't respond, only nodding her head as Shade rolled off of her, wedging herself between the couch and Emie's body. They both managed to move themselves to their sides, facing each other with fatigued grins.

"Emie feels better..." Emie told her. "Emie thanks Shade-Shade for making her feel good..."

"I should be the one thanking you." Shade panted. "Sorry we couldn't have really done more or kept going...but shit, that was...just...wow..."

Emie then suddenly frowned with Shade placing a hand on Emie's hip.

"Why have you been so sad lately, cutey?" Shade finally asked her, feeling as if she needed to know. "That little outburst you had about everyone thinking you were stupid and not wanting you made everyone a little worried."

She lovingly rubbed up and down Emie's body, making her feel comforted as Emie started to cry.

"Matt doesn't want to be with Emie..." she told her with tears running down the side of her face along with her ears folding. "Matt doesn't love Emie anymore..."

Shade frowned at her, saddened by Emie's tears. She kindly wiped them out of her eyes.

"Don't say that..." she told her. "From what I saw in Matt's mind, Matt loves you very much."

Emie frowned, sniffling in an attempt to hold back tears.

"Matt loves Sissy more..."

Shade laughed softly, rubbing her hand on Emie's side again.

"I don't think Matt knows what to think right now." She explained to him. "I think he's under a lot of stress because he doesn't want to hurt you or Sissy by picking a favorite. Do you wanna know what I think, cutey?"

Emie nodded with her tears ceasing.

"I think Matt loves both of you so much that he's making the choice to be miserable so neither of you have to be. If Matt chose you over Sissy, then she would be sad, but if Matt chose Sissy over you-"

"Emie would be very sad." Emie finished, understanding what she was getting at. Matt had literally said the same thing to her before, but now she was finally starting to understand it. "But Sissy is a meany. Matt shouldn't love her at all."

Shade sighed, rubbing Emie's side still.

"Maybe she's jealous that you and Matt get along so well." Shade told her. Emie thought about it, remembering all the time her and Matt had enjoyed each others company. Every time they did Sissy always seemed to leave herself out of it, just watching them. It was sorta sad the more Emie thought about it.

"Emie feels bad for Sissy now..." Emie told her. Shade laughed, leaning forward and giving Emie a kiss on the nose.

"Things will get better." Shade assured her. "In the meanwhile, you've got me."

Emie looked at Shade curiously.

"What _are_ Emie and Shade?..." Emie wondered, not sure where this incident put the two of them relationship wise. "Are Shade and Emie still friends or more?..."

Shade chuckled, smiling at Emie and her adorableness.

"I guess we're friends," Shade told her, "but with benefits."

"Benefits?" Emie repeated unsure as to what that implied. Shade smiled, moving her hand over Emie's backside.

"Think of us as friends," Shade told her, reaching around and slapping Emie's ass playfully, "but we can do fun stuff like this. But only if you want to, of course. Does that sound okay with you?"

Emie thought about it with her tooth protruding again along with the sound of porn still playing in the background. She nodded her head at Shade.

"Emie would like that a lot..." She told her happily, yawning soon after. Shade pet the side of her face as Emie drifted off to sleep with Emie's body pressed against hers. Reaching for the remote, Shade switched the channel and turned the TV off, tossing the remote on the other side of the couch. It didn't take her long to fall asleep cuddled up next to Emie.

_**The**_ next morning, Bomber exited his Pokeball that Matt left for him on the floor. He stretched his wings with a yawn, wondering if it was still raining. Sure enough, the window in Matt's room showed it was still pelting down rain like no tomorrow. He sighed, making his way for the door.

Upon exiting, Bomber instantly noticed both Emie and Shade sleeping on the couch together, completely naked. He stared with wide eyes as Shade slowly opened hers. Seeing Bomber made her smile. She sat up and stretched, puffing out her chest with Bomber shamefully staring at her boobs longer than he realized. Seeing his red face made her giggle, giving him a wink.

"Hey, my avian lover," she said flirtatiously, "like what you see?"

Bomber kept looking back and forth between Emie, who was laying on her side with her back facing him, and Shade, who wasn't even attempting to cover her body. In fact, she was flaunting it.

"W-wha..." was all Bomber could say in his state of complete and utter shock. It made Shade giggle.

"Emie might have bigger tits than I do," she told him, turning around on her knees and pointing her butt in his direction. "but I personally think I have a slightly better ass. What do you think, lover?"

Bomber's face was as red as it could get behind his feathers, feeling more uncomfortable than words could even possibly begin to describe. Shade turned around once again to face him, giving Emie's butt a squeeze as she slept. In doing so, Emie giggled in her sleep with Shade winking at Bomber.

"Wanna have a threesome?" Shade giggled. Bomber quickly turned around, heading right back into Matt's room, repeating the words-

"I didn't see anything! I didn't see anything!"


	44. Chapter 44

_**Chapter 44**_

"_**Well**_ this is unexpected..." Matt said, standing in the suite main room with Bomber and Shade. After being woken up by the fevered muttering and panicking of Bomber, Matt was informed (mostly by incomplete sentences and wing gestures) what he had saw. The three of them stood near the couch where Emie was still sleeping, still naked with her back facing them. Matt was surprisingly calmer than Shade expected him to be. If anyone wasn't calm, it was Bomber, who cringed and looked embarrassed by every detail Shade used as she explained their night.

"If anything I think it did her some good." Shade said as if to defend their actions. "Just look at her; she's sleeping so peacefully..."

"And she's naked, mind you!" Bomber input. Shade sighed, moving closer to Bomber and giving him a hug.

"Don't be jealous, lover." she told him flirtatiously. "I'll make it up to you..."

"I don't want you to make up for anything!" Bomber told her, avoiding looking at her. "What I want is for you to put some clothes on!"

Yes. Shade was still naked as well.

Once again, Matt didn't really seem to flustered over that either. He kept eye contact with her, for the most part, and was completely mellow.

"Well," Matt said to himself with a very weak smile starting to form as he watched Emie sleep on the couch. "I certainly hope this means she'll stop sulking."

Bomber snapped his head at Matt, still with Shade hugging Bomber as her boobs pressed against him.

"How the hell are you okay with this?!" he freaked out. "You've got a naked Meowth and Haunter who had _sex_ on the _couch_. And are still bare ass naked!"

Shade leaned closer to him with a twinkle of delight in her eye as she smiled.

"And it was _hot_..." she added. Shade started stroking the side of Bomber's face, sending a shiver up his body. "I wish you could have been there..."

Bomber shivered once more, pushing himself away from Shade and shaking his head. He acted as if he had just witnessed a mass murder of children who all had diseases and were also orphans.

"Stop stop stop stop stop!" he pleaded, refusing to look at Shade or Emie naked.

"That's funny," Shade said thinking about it. "That's usual the _opposite_ of what you'd say while you're getting down and dirty..."

"Quit it!" Bomber told her flustered. "I can only take so much of this!"

Shade giggled, drawing near to Bomber once again, seeing him blush when he glanced up at her.

"Now that's a phrase I'm unfamiliar with." she snickered with a wink. Shade tried to place her hand on him again, soon with Bomber turning tail and running towards Matt's room.

"I-I need to take a shower!" Bomber announced loudly before closing the door behind him. Matt sighed, getting a chuckle out of that along with Shade.

"You're cruel." Matt said, forgetting what it was like to laugh. After sitting in a room for almost three days he was starting to feel better. Shade stuck her tongue out at him, still shamelessly parading around naked.

"He's just an easy target." She told him, standing beside Matt again as the two of them watched Emie slept tranquilly. "It's not like I can tease _you_ or anything. You've got two sexy, and deadly, women who'd be after me quicker than you could say 'double penetration' if I messed around with you like I do with Bomber."

Matt couldn't help but laugh at her, with Emie moving a little in her sleep.

"Is sex always on your mind?" Matt asked her. Shade shrugged.

"Isn't it on everyone's?" she asked him. "Seriously, think about it. Everyone thinks about sex _at_ _least_ a few times a day. I don't care if they're a monk who hasn't seen a pair of boobs their entire life, they still probably think about sex."

Matt found himself staring at Shade's boobs, shaking his head quickly and regaining eye contact.

"Um, sorry about that." he told her a little embarrassed. Shade laughed at his reaction, acting completely fine about it.

"It's not your fault." she told him. "Haven't you also noticed when someone mentions boobs while talking to someone they always seem to look at them?"

Matt once again found himself glancing at Shade's breasts, shaking his head for a second time.

"Dammit," he told her, "my bad."

"Dude," she told him, acting like a guy. "it's fine. Boobs are awesome. Sometimes I stare at mine when I'm bored. Certainly fun to play with, I'll say that much."

Matt looked at her a little shocked about how open she was about all of this.

"Isn't there _anything_ you're not open about?" he asked her. Shade shrugged again with Emie yawning as she turned over on her other side.

"Why should there be?" she asked him legitimately serious. Matt didn't have a response to that, however, noticed Emie starting to wake up. Both Shade and him looked down at her as she slowly opened her eyes. At first she didn't register who was standing there, only seeing blurs. She rubbed her tired eyes, finally recognizing Matt and Shade. Her ears quickly folded back, sitting up on the couch and lowered her head as if he were going to hit her or something.

"Sounds like you and Shade had fun last night." Matt laughed. Regaurdless of Matt's positive attitude, Emie's eye's watered up, soon with her starting to cry unexpectedly. Matt and Shade both were taken back by this, looking at each other as if the other knew why she was so stricken with grief all of a sudden.

"Emie is sorry!" she apologized as if she had done something terribly wrong. Matt sat down next to her, putting his arms around her upper back and giving her a warm hug.

"Emie," he asked her with a frown. "why are you sorry?"

Emie was literally shaking in his arms as he held her close like a parent would do for a child.

"Matt's mad at Emie because Emie and Shade did...naughty things..." she sniffled. Matt shook his head, putting his hand on the side of her head.

"I'm not mad at you, Emie." he told her. Emie's face grew confused, staring at him so focused that she almost went crossed eyed.

"But...Emie doesn't understand. Emie and Shade-"

"It's alright." Matt chuckled. "I can't get mad at you for something I would do."

Shade was a little surprised at that remark.

"Wait," she said, putting two and two together. "you mean _you'd_ do me?"

Matt glanced at her, still with a serious face.

"Well, I didn't mean it like _that._" he told her. "What I meant was I've been with my fair share of woman so how can I get mad at anyone else who does what I've done?"

Shade blinked, not sure what to say to that as Matt explained this to Emie

"Oh..." Shade said still standing near the couch. "...but would you do me if I was straight and willing?"

Matt looked at her humorously.

"Well... yeah, I guess."

Shade kept staring at him, slightly blushing.

"Is it because of my looks or personality?..." she asked him, making Matt wonder why the hell she wanted to know that. Matt started laughing at her.

"Can I chose both?" he laughed. She blushed even more.

"Aww," she said flattered, "that's really sweet of you..."

Matt rolled his eyes at her, returning his focus to Emie, who was still looking very unsure.

"Is Matt sure Matt's not upset?" she asked, wondering if he were lying about it to spare her feelings. He wiped the tears from her eyes, smiling at her to let her know that it was okay.

"I'm not upset, Emie." he assured her once again.

The sound of Matt's room door opening got everyone's attention. With closed eyes, Sissy drug her feet out the door with her yukata along with it's sash hastily tied on around it. It had been been made clear during the past week that she certainly wasn't a morning person. Some of her long hair was messed up, unlike how it was usually nicely brushed to add to her elegant look. Elegant, though, she definitely did not look. She let out a little yawn, rubbing her eyes with her palms.

"Why is everyone so loud?" she asked, opening her eyes finally. She stared at both Emie and Shade blankly, blinking a few times to be sure she wasn't having some twisted dream. As if all had been forgiven between the two of them, Emie waved at Sissy childishly.

"Good morning!" she said chipper. "Emie is happy to see Sissy awake!"

Sissy kept staring with her eyes narrowing over time. She then turned around, putting her hand on the handle of the door that led to Matt's room.

"I think I need to go back to bed..." she sighed, sounding like she didn't sleep at all.

_**"Absolutely**_ marvelous!" Laurence told Rachel, astounded by her cooking. She had decided to cook for everyone that morning, making scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon; her usual breakfast. The only ones not eating were Otto, who was still sleeping, and Bomber, who was still in the shower. It had been over three hours since he went in there. In truth, he was taking the longest cold shower he'd ever had- maybe even longer than anyone out of the crew had taken.

"It's just eggs..." Rachel told Laurence coyly as he ate standing next to her, holding the plate she'd served him with one hand and had a fork in the other. Everyone enjoyed the food they'd been given, complementing Rachel's cocking.

"Thank you." Darrell told her, walking over to the kitchen counter and setting his plate down by the sink. "I'm sorry, but I have to run off to work."

Rachel frowned, looking at the clock on the stove, reading that it was nine in the morning.

"What time did you get back last night?" she asked him, seeing the dark circles under his eyes.

"About four." he told her, secretively moving his hand behind him, adjusting his gun that was resting in the back of his pants. It was concealed from everyone by him putting his shirt over it. Rachel couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was having to spend all of his time doing. "I guess you could say my boss is a real cunt." Darrell told her, as if reading her mind.

"Just don't overwork yourself." she told him as Laurence scowled at Darrell from behind her. Darrell would have shot a nasty look back at him, but didn't want Rachel to see him. Every time him and Laurence made eye contact it was a dark stare he was met with. Laurence hated everything about Darrell. Why? Simply because he reminded him of himself when he was still alive with only a few alterations including appearance and motivation.

"I'll be fine," Darrell told her, making his way to the front door. "thank you again for breakfast."

"Avoid firing if you have the capacity to hold yourself back." Laurence round about insulted him with Rachel turning around, looking puzzled. Darrell shot Laurence a death stare before leaving.

"Fire what?" Rachel asked curiously. Laurence only grinned at her, ignoring her question.

"What do you call this again?" Laurence asked her, raising a piece of toast. "Toast, is it?"

Doug, who was sitting at the kitchen table with Sissy looked at him funny.

"You've never had toast?" Doug asked him. Laurence turned his head towards Doug, shaking it.

"Never in my life." he told him. "Literally. The most I recall when I was alive was eating rice and fish."

Emie, who was sitting on the couch eating with Matt, stuck her tongue out and shook her head at the word.

"Emie hates fishies!" She said. "Fishies taste yucky!"

Matt poked her in the stomach with her giggling. The sound of her laughing made Sissy slightly grow jealous. Fueling her with anger, she stabbed at her bacon with the fork she was using, completely void of grace.

"And I'm sure they hate you too..." Sissy said spitefully. Matt cringed, knowing all to well what was about to happen next. Emie would get mad at Sissy, then Sissy would yell back at her, followed by world war three erupting. Hadn't they had enough drama?!

Emie however didn't actually take any offense to her comment, being to naïve too realize Sissy was being a bitch to her. She just giggled, taking another bite of her toast with a hum of satisfaction.

"Emie likes toast though." Emie said aloud, completely disregarding Sissy's comment. "And eggies and bakey."

"You mean bacon?" Matt asked her, getting a laugh out of how she said the word. Emie looked embarrassed, knowing that she was bad at saying some words. She could never get them to sound right.

"Yeah," Emie said slowly. "b_u-aye-cun_."

Matt started laughing with Emie shyly blushing in embarrassment.

"Emie's r_eee_ally bad with words..." she told him, as if admitting some hidden secret that nobody knew about. Matt nodded respectfully, patting her thigh that was next to him as she sat cross legged on the couch.

"It's alright Emie." he told her, sounding more cheerful than he had in days, even if it was still raining. "I like you just the way you are."

Emie smiled, blushing once again at Matt.

Sissy felt like she was gonna throw up.

"Oh, get a room..." Sissy huffed sounding on edge. Doug looked at Sissy nervously, feeling the hate and anger radiating off of her. Finished eating, both Matt and Doug got up from where they were sitting, heading to the counter to set down their plates. Shade, who was sitting on the couch as well, was stuffing her face with the breakfast.

"I don't care what they say about Ghost type Pokemon!" She told everyone with her mouth full. "I've felt like my stomach was gonna cave in if I didn't eat soon!"

**As it has been said in the past, Ghost types rarely need sleep or food. Being able to suck the life force out of any other living creatures, whether it be voluntary or by force, they can also live off of basic needs, though it does not effect them nearly enough as a normal human or Pokemon. Sleeping a full eight hours to them feels like simply taking a quick nap and eating even an entire buffet of food would feel like a snack. **

In unison, both Matt and Doug jumped, looking all around them from the startle of the narration.

"Where the hell does that keep coming from?!" they both yelled. Suddenly realizing what each other said, they looked at one another in total shock.

"You heard that strange voice too?!" Doug said almost in tears from finally confirming he wasn't alone in hearing the narrations.

"I thought I was the only one!" Matt said astounded by the discovery that Doug had also heard the narration. The two of them hugged each other like brothers, feeling as if they had instantly bonded a little. Laurence looked at the two of them, wondering why on earth they were embracing. Rachel saw the confused look in his eyes, sighing with a shrug as she kept cooking on the stove top.

"Don't even bother questioning it." Rachel told him. "It's probably some stupid guy thing."

"As you wish, my Lady." Laurence responded respectfully. Sissy kept prodding at her food, losing her appetite thanks to Emie. With the sound of rain outside, Shade burped, rubbing her stomach with her now empty plate beside her.

"I love food..." she sighed. The sound of the shower coming from Matt's room reminded her that Bomber was still in there. An evil idea crossed her mind. "Bomber's been in there a long time. I should check on how my Avian lover is doing."

Nobody noticed her float towards Matt's room door.

Sissy stood up from the table, leaving her plate there, not even bothering to bring it to the sink.

Her anger was getting the best of her, swearing that if any asshole pissed her off she'd-

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of pounding on the front door. Doug and Matt stopped hugging with a familiar, and annoying, voice hollering from the other side of the suite door.

"Open up, you bastard!" the voice yelled. "It's been long enough and it's time we settle this!"

With her nerves already on the edge, Sissy stormed over to the door as everyone watched her. Sissy grabbed the handle of the door, throwing it open with no even an ounce of grace in her actions.

Standing outside the door in his white windbreaker with teal strippes, Jimmy had his hands in fists, looking like he meant business.

"What the fuck do you want?!" Sissy yelled at him, catching the entire crew that was still in the main suite off guard. Jimmy pointed his finger at her, shaking it in rage.

"You damn well know what I want!" he nearly screamed. "I want a rematch! Just my Pokemon against and Matt's! That includes you, bitch!"

Sissy's eyes dilated with a literal flame overcoming her body. It burned, however, didn't burn away her yukata nor her bokuto. After much practice, she'd finally started getting a slight amount of experience with using magic. Mix that with her rage, her UMP level was much higher than expected.

"I'm the only Pokemon you'll be up against!" Sissy yelled. Matt wasn't sure what was going on. Was he being challenged and Sissy was accepting it for him? And without the help of others?

"And what about Matt's other Pokemon?" Jimmy snarled. Sissy moved out of the way so he could see Emie.

"His Meowth is unable to fight at the moment." Sissy lied, sounding very harsh. "She's suffering from a mental illness right now."

Emie, who was sitting on the couch and staring at Sissy's back, frowned as if confused.

"But Emie is fine..." Emie told her, actually believing that Sissy was serious.

"You see?" Sissy told Jimmy, not missing a beat. "she's so sick she doesn't even realize it."

Jimmy scowled at her with Matt coming up from behind her.

"And what about his other two Pokemon?" Jimmy asked.

The sound of something crashing was heard coming from Matt's room. His room door burst open with Bomber running for his life in his anthro form, holding a towel around his waist. Shade was running after him giggling. With a leap, she tackled him to the ground as he squirmed on his stomach.

"Taking a cold shower will never douse out our love!" Shade announced loudly as Bomber flailed around on the floor with her on his back. Jimmy stared a little pale faced, seeing a Haunter trying to molest a Pidgeotto, listening to it shrill in horror.

"This is wrong!" Bomber cried. "All of this is horribly wrong!"

Sissy stared at Jimmy, not once taking her eyes off of him with her flame aura still around her.

"They're in the middle of passionate love making." she told Jimmy with a serious face. "Now are you done stalling or can I kick your Pokemon's asses for a second time?"

"Bring it on Mutt!" Jimmy snarled, holding his ground.

Matt stood there with a lost look in his eyes, switching his view from Sissy and Jimmy standing off against each other, then looking over to see Bomber struggling with Shade as she straddled on top of his back. He sighed, adjusting his hat with the hair sticking out the front of it moving along with it. He could already tell it was gonna be one of _those_ days...


	45. Chapter 45

_**Chapter 45**_

_**The**_ battle area of the Pokemon center was practically empty with only Matt, his Pokemon and friends, as well as Jimmy. Matt and Jimmy stood on each end of the battle zone with Sissy positively flaming in rage. Literally. Otto, Rachel, Laurence, Shade, Bomber, Emie, and Doug were in the stands spectating, all not sure what to think.

"Sissy looks pissed." Rachel said to Laurence. "I've never seen her so angry."

"I don't like this." Laurence said back to her with his hands folded in his lap. "She's going to let her anger get the best of her, letting her emotions take control."

Rachel looked at Laurence, watching him stroke his chin.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" she asked him. "I mean, if she's already going to be fighting it out, wouldn't she _want_ her emotions to give her that much more of a boost to her attacks?"

"Not necessarily." Laurence told her, watching as the referee walked into the middle of the battle area, shouting out the rules. "A warrior may find strength in their emotions, but their emotions can also cloud their judgment. And I have a bad feeling about this. Something just feels off."

Rachel didn't say anything else to her suited Gengar, starting to worry herself. Emie was sitting next to Shade, who in return was sitting next to Bomber, who had perched himself on the stand in his beast form. The more he tried to move away from her, the more she came onto him. Every single one of them was worried for their trainer and Sissy, praying nothing would go wrong since they were being kept out of the fight due to Sissy's pride. Doug and Otto sat next to each other, each examining the situation in their own way.

"Sissy should easily be able to pull this off." Otto said confidently. "Just look at her, man. I wouldn't wanna go up against someone on fire, all pissed and ready to chop you into bits with that bokuto of her's."

Doug felt something telling him the exact opposite. Perhaps it was his more womanly side coming out of him, but his intuition was telling him Sissy was in trouble. All he could do was sit and watch nervously as the referee blew the whistle.

"Have fun with my new Pokemon, bitch!" Jimmy yelled, throwing out a Pokeball. There was a bright flash, soon with a large purple creature appearing. Being about nine feet tall, it had a spot where a horn originally should have been jutting out from it's reptilian-like skull, having been cut off making a nub. It had black eyes and scales covering over it's body. In addition, it had a white underbelly, being rough hide-like skin. It was incredibly muscular with it's burly hands having claw like nails and it's feet being large, making a pounding sound every time it moved. Behind it was a large tail that slithered about when angered.

It was a Nidoking.

Jimmy spent a lot of his father's money in order to obtain. He had bought it from a shifty stranger who said very little about it. The only thing he was told that it was "specially trained" with "top of the line vitamins."

Sissy didn't show even the slightest sign of fear nor cation, rushing in head on without Matt's approval. With her bokuto in both hands, she charged at the beast with the wooden bokuto lighting on fire. As cool as it might have been, Matt wasn't sure she was thinking things through. She was going too fast for him to think of any kind of plan of action.

Without waiting, Sissy swung her flaming bokuto, hitting the Nidoking right in the stomach.

It didn't do a damn thing to it.

Matt didn't have time to tell Sissy to move out of the way. The Nidoking swung it's body around, bashing her with it's tail. She flew backwards, landing on her side with a grunt. With her will set on green still, she was going to have to work with Matt if she wanted to do any damage where it counted. Hitting it head on was clearly not going to take it down. But Sissy didn't care. Instead, she forced herself to get up, swinging her bokuto to her side tauntingly with a huff.

"Sissy, don't keep charging head on!" Matt told her. Sissy ignored him, feeling pulled back when she struck at the Nidoking once again, having force she had before cut in half. Since Matt was fighting with her and the will meter was on green, her power was held back. The Nidoking grabbed her bokuto from her, yanked it away, threw it, followed by kicking her with it's powerful foot. Sissy flew backwards, this time landing on her back. Matt froze in horror, seeing there was blood on her face. There flame-like aura died out as Sissy laid on the ground.

Her fists tightened as she laid there, slowly getting up afterward. Matt felt himself fearing for her safety, watching as the it stomped over to her with it's tail dragging behind it. Sissy stood there with blood on her forehead, refusing to quit. She pulled out her arm, lighting a flame with all of her fingertips, though not her entire hand. It soon died out, unable to focus her UMP long enough for an attack as the Nidoking raised it's arm at her.

Matt's hand shot up, getting the referee's attention.

"I forfeit!" Matt yelled. The ref blew the whistle with Jimmy pumping this fist.

"Yeah!" he gloated on the other side of the gym. "Pay up bitch!"

Matt's friend's and Pokemon in the stands all frowned, watching the Nidoking turning around confused.

This wasn't over.

It had only begun!

Jimmy pushed the button's of it's Pokeball with nothing happening. He grew frustrated with the Nidoking resiting to go back into it's Pokeball.

"Come on, you dumbass!" Jimmy yelled. "Get back in your ball!"

"**NIDOKING!**" it roared back. The Nidoking was so strong willed due to the supplements it had been put on that Jimmy's willpower was no match for it's drug educed strength. The Pokeball in Jimmy's hand started sparking with him staring at it horrified. Suddenly, it exploded, making Jimmy pull his hand back in pain as the Pokeball broke in two.

Now panicking, Matt saw the Nidoking turn back around with a dark smile as it stood before Sissy, who was barely able to keep on her feet. She had been hit so hard that she was dazed, not in her right mind anymore. Raising it's large claw-like hand again, it pulled back it's arm, ready to strike. It smashed her across the face, sending blood flying in the direction of the blow. Sissy landed on her face, not moving.

Matt saw a blur suddenly bash into it's side, sending it flying out of the fighting area and crashing into the wall. It was Bomber who had done the bashing, standing his ground in his beast form with a glare. The Nidoking shook it's large head, glaring back at the Pidgeotto that had smashed into him.

"You better back the hell off unless you wanna piece of this!" Bomber yelled aggressively. From the stands, Emie and Shade jumped down, running in the direction of the fight. Rachel watched Matt run for Sissy in horror with Laurence standing up from his seat. Otto and Doug stood up as well, not sure what to do.

The referee ran like hell to get help along with Jimmy, who was simply running for his own safety, out the training room. Before leaving though, Jimmy took one last look back in fear, unable to stay With the door slamming after them.

There was a red light appearing above the door with the word **EMERGENCY** over it.

With the Pokemon center following through with protocol, the doors locked, unintentionally locking Matt and his crew inside with the Nidoking.

Matt bent down next to Sissy, moving her onto her back. Her face was covered in blood, making him swear, soon starting to cry with his emotions getting the better of him. The Nidoking started stomping over towards them with Bomber and Emie standing their ground. Shade bent down next to Sissy as well, looking up at Matt to find that he was crying.

"I don't think she's breathing!" Matt panicked. "Shit! Shit! Fucking dammit!"

Shade turned herself transparent, entering Sissy, trying to keep her stabilized by entering her body and sharing the pain. Shade made Sissy's eyes open, with her pupils being an amber-orange color. She looked like she were about to die.

"Holy. Shit." Shade murmured using Sissy's body. "This. Hurts. So. Fucking. Bad."

Laurence suddenly appeared between Bomber and Emie, raising his hands up and cracking his knuckles, yet somehow remaining to seem like a gentleman as the Nidoking charged at them.

The door closed behind him with a safety protocol activating.

There was no getting out or getting in now.

_**Darrell**_ entered the Pokemon center, having Hugo tell him that he wasn't needed the day. He'd been called in to work only to be told to leave. Typical. He had his head down, suddenly glancing up to see trainers alike surrounded around the flat screen TV, covering their mouths, all in shock at what was happening live via the camera inside the battle room. Darrell froze, seeing a Pidgeotto, Meowth, and a suited 'man' fighting with a Nidoking. Amber was standing by her computer, tabbing away as fast as she could. Darrell saw everyone on camera inside the battle area. Including his friend Doug.

Fear overcame him, soon dashing across the Pokemon center lobby, shoving past people watching what was happening. Amber saw him, seeing that he was just as afraid as she was.

"What the hell is going on?!" Darrell panicked with the sound of fighting being heard coming from the television.

"Matt was having a battle with a trainer who's Pokemon is now going berserk! The damn doors are locked after the alarm got pulled and now we can't open them!"

"Who's Pokemon is that?!" Darrell blurted out loud. "Where the fuck is this spineless piece of work who calls themselves a trainer, running out like they did?!"

He looked around the room, seeing Jimmy in the corner, watching the TV just as scared as everyone else was. He really screwed up this time. The guy he bought it from assured him that it was only natural substances he fed to the Nidoking. Jimmy made eye contact with Darrell, who knew right off the bat it was his fault, seeing the shifty look in his eyes that expressed his hidden fear. Darrell stormed up to him, grabbing him by the collar of his windbreak, smashing him into the back of a wall. Now with the attention of a few trainers, Darrell started yelling.

"Where the fuck did you buy that Nidoking?!" Darrell yelled. Jimmy only stammered and stuttered with the sound of a trainre screaming as they watched the TV. Darrell turned his head, seeing Bomber being slashed across the face with his blood hitting the floor. In retaliation, Bomber headbutted the Nidoking, making it back up. Emie was busy fighting it from behind, taking a shot at it when she could, making sure not to get in it's path head on. Laurence was chanting and making hand movements. Darrell looked back at Jimmy, lifting him up from the ground with his eyes almost bulging out in anger and rage.

"Fucking tell me!" Darrell yelled loudly. Jimmy struggled, grabbing Darrell's hands and wiggling with his back against the wall and his feet off the floor.

"I bought him from a breeder in town!" Jimmy told him shaking. "He told me he gave him only a natural enhancer!"

Darrell bashed Jimmy's back into the wall again, making him let out a cry of pain.

"What the hell did they give it?!"

"I don't know!" Jimmy pleaded. "Star something! Star...star- Stardust!"

Darrell would have dropped him shock if he wasn't so pissed. He bashed Jimmy against the wall for a final time with a popping noise being heard.

"You fucking moron!" Darrell yelled. "Do you realize what that is?!"

**Being hands down the strongest drug known in the Pokemon universe, stardust originated a few hundred years in the past. It was said to come from the sky from falling meteorites, possessing the properties to enhance the ability of a Pokemon instantly, evolving it to his most powerful form and giving nearly deity like strength and power. The drug effect on the mind makes the Pokemon feel so strong that it typically refuses to listen to it's trainer tells it to do. Needless to say, it's incredibly illegal, almost as dangerous as a nuclear bomb and is treated like such if any Pokemon comes in contact with it.**

Darrell threw Jimmy to the floor, running over to Amber with terror in his voice.

"Stardust!" he panicked. She looked at him confused with him pointing at the TV where the Nidoking was going about it's rampage against Matt's Pokemon and Laurence. Amber finally got the picture, standing up like a shot from her office chair behind the front desk.

"Are you serious?!" she freaked out. She had to sit down again, putting her hands on her head, panicking. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, this is bad, this is bad!"

She picked up the phone, calling the authorities. She listened to it ring as she watched the live action taking place inside the battle room. Matt had taken cover in a corner of the room behind the stands with Rachel, Otto, and Doug. In Matt's hand's was Sissy. Amber couldn't see where his Haunter was, not realizing it was inside his Growlithe.

"Hello?" a voice said on the other line.

"This is Amber from the Pokemon center! We need Gail company; there's a stardust threat! I repeat, a stardust threat!"

Darrell could only watch in anxiety like everyone else did, praying for the safety of Doug and his friends.

_**Bomber**_ bashed head on into the Nidoking once again, pushing it back just barely. The Nidoking didn't feel hardly anything, even when Laurence shot a spike of darkness into it's chest. Emie preformed a running kick, getting the Nidoking right in the back. She was swatted away with it's tail, barely avoiding it by doing a flip backwards.

Matt was gripping onto Sissy as he held her close to him. Shade was still inside her, feeling even weaker now.

"I...think...she's...dying..." Shade murmured, her herself dying as well by being subjected to Sissy's pain. If she weren't inside her Sissy would have surely died by then. Doug was scanning around the battle area, looking for anything they could use to there advantage.

"There has to be an emergency stash somewhere." he said out loud. "They wouldn't have places like these if they didn't. There has to be _some_ precautions."

Otto's mind was racing, using his IQ to his advantage, not even paying attention to anything they were saying.

"What the fuck is wrong with that thing?!" Rachel panicked, covering her head behind the stands with the sound of fighting going on behind her. "It's like it's possessed or something!"

Otto noticed the broken Pokeball laying on the other end of the battle room from where it had been snapped in half when Jimmy was trying to send his Nidoking back.

"I have an idea," Otto told them, getting up from his knees, rushing out into the heat of things. Rachel and Doug were shocked, telling him to stay put. "I'll be right back!"

"You're gonna get yourself killed, you fucking moron!" Rachel yelled at him. "Get your ass back here!"

"I gotta get that Pokeball!" Otto yelled back to them.

"It's not worth your life!" Doug panicked, with his inner woman kicking into gear. Matt was still holding onto Sissy, telling himself to be strong, not only for himself, but for her.

"Shade," he told her inside Sissy, "Please, I don't care how bad the pain is, don't give up on keeping Sissy alive."

With Sissy's eyes still being an orangeish color, she nodded her head weakly, unable to respond back to him from the intense pain.

Laurence cast another burst of magic at the Nidoking, only to have it do little to nothing to the beast. Bomber slashed his wing at the Nidoking, barely even giving the son of a bitch a paper cut across it's chest. With it's flesh nearly being as hard as steel, the Nidoking threw a punch at Bomber, getting him right in the face.

Emie jumped onto the Nidoking's back, clawing her way up it. She began to violent tear into it's back, getting some blood on her claw-like nails. The Nidoking reached behind him, grabbing Emie by her head, throwing her like a piece of meat across the battle area. In mid air, she spun around, landing on her feet with her hands catching her as well in a crouch-like stance.

Otto reached the broken Pokeball, now running back to the others in the corner of the battle room. His sneakers squeaked on the floor, getting the attention of the Nidoking. It snarled, starting to rush towards him.

"I don't think so." Laurence said, suddenly appearing in front, putting out his hand. A purple force field of energy appeared, holding the Nidoking back. Still, it desperately tried to push against the field of energy Laurence was casting, putting it's abnormally large arms up, fighting with it. Laurence stood as strong as stone against it, not even budging. From behind it, the Nidoking felt large wings wrap around it's body.

"Surprise!" Bomber growled, doing a wrestling throw by falling backwards, throwing the Nidoking with him. The Nidoking crashed onto the wooden floor, creating a dent in it with Bomber getting back on his large bird feet, raising his wings up like shields. "I'm right here, you big stupid freak! Come get some!"

Otto slid on his side to the sanctuary of the corner of the room behind the stands with the pieces of the broken Pokeball each hand. Without even a second to spare, he began to fiddle with it as Rachel watched him confused.

"What the hell are you trying to do?!" she asked him with Doug wondering the same thing.

"Oh you know, I just thought I'd have something to tinker with while we wait." He told her sarcastically. "What's it look like I'm doing?! I'm trying to fix it so we can put it back in the ball!"

"Even if you could," Doug told him, "what's gonna keep that monster in there?!"

"Let's take one thing at a time." Otto said forcing himself to stay calm in the time of crisis. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Assuming we live long enough." Rachel said bearing her teeth. Matt was clenching onto Sissy, holding her tight within his arms. Blood was getting on his jacket from her bleeding so much. Shade was having trouble keeping Sissy's eyes open, every now and then closing them longer than intended.

"Dammit," Matt swore, "we need to find a potion or something to bandage her up! Sissy's going to die if we don't."

A very weak smile appeared on her face.

"I'm...glad you still care...about _me_." Shade spoke through Sissy jokingly, trying to make light of the situation. "This...really hurts...you know..."

"I'm sorry Shade," Matt told her, holding Sissy even tighter, "please stay strong. Please, don't let Sissy die on me."

Bomber kept blocking the punches the Nidoking threw at him, deflecting them the best he could with his body starting to feel fatigued from all the fighting. There was no way he could keep this up forever. Emie once again charged at it, preforming a kick at it's ribcage. She had kicked it so hard that she left her footprint on it's scale. It turned towards her, letting out a loud roar that rang her ears.

Laurence was standing near her, staring at the Nidoking with his purple eyes blazing.

"Something feels off about this one." Laurence told her. "I think it's under the influence of-"

The Nidoking let out another roar, sounding more intense than the last. Bomber was panting, flapping his wings, flying in front of Laurence and Emie, landing down and raising his wings up again to protect them. Laurence's eyes widened, remembering an experience he had when he was still alive, ordering his troops to move out over night. They had been scouting when they stumbled across a Pokemon that nearly killed them all. It had been subjected to-"

"Stardust." Laurence finished seriously. "I should have guessed. Bomber, how are you feeling?"

"A little tired," he admitted with the Nidoking standing off with them, letting out a huff. "but I can keep going."

"And you, Emie?" Laurence inquired. She smiled at him, giving him an arm pump with the bell on her collar jingling.

"Emie is ready still okay!" she told him with confidence. Laurence gave a nod, understanding their current energy levels.

"I need you to hold it off for a minute while I prepare something." he told them. "Will the two of you be able to manage?"

"Emie can do it!" Emie told him with a confident yell. Bomber nodded his head with a pant.

"Got it." Bomber told him.

Laurence took a step back as Bomber held his ground. Emie jumped on Bomber's back, jumping off of him to get even more air. She flew through the air with a flip, coming down with her foot in the direction of the Nidoking. I looked up, just in time to see her foot crack into it's skull, where it's horn should have been. The Nidoking only felt a slight amount of pain with the stardust making it much stronger than it was on it's own. It shook off the kick, swatting at Emie when she landed on the floor, missing her completely as she jumped backwards.

Doug saw something on the other side of the room, being a container on the wall with a red cross on it. He pointed at it, getting Rachel and Matt's attention. Otto was too busy trying to fix the broken Pokeball.

"I think that's where medical supplies might be." Doug told them still pointing as the fighting raved on. "It _has_ to be with a symbol like that on it."

Matt saw what he was pointing at, quickly handing Sissy's limp body over to Rachel with her not understanding what he was doing. He adjusted his hat and jacket that had Sissy's blood on it now, matching with the crimson color. She saw the look in his eye, knowing what he was about to do.

"You're gonna get yourself killed!" She told him. Matt didn't bother to look at her with his eyes set on the medical container on the wall.

"If I don't then Sissy is going to bleed to death." Matt told her. Without another word, he darted off with his sneakers almost sliding across the floor from how fast he ran. He huffed, running past the stands as the fighting continued.

Laurence had closed his eyes with his upper part of the suit fading away, leaving him bare chested. His body was covered in marks, looking like he'd been mauled and cut into multiple times. He placed his hand on his torso, clawing into it with black blood running down his chest from the wound he had created. Laurence's eyes were still closed, putting his hands together after getting blood on them. Pulling his hands apart from each other, a red blade was taking shape, being slender and having a slight curve to it. Reaching out all the way, a handle appeared at the end of it, now being a red katana.

Matt hit against the wall from the velocity of his running, slapping his hand on the handle of the medical container on the wall. He yanked it open, finding a few potions and medical bandages inside. He grabbed all of it, rushing back towards Sissy and the others. The Nidoking glanced over at Matt, but soon saw Laurence stepping towards it's direction. Bomber was panting even more tired now, taking most of the blows since he was the front liner, being the team 'tank' in a sense. Emie was getting a little winded herself, watching as Laurence stepped slowly forward with his katana in hand, passing both of them without a shirt on and black blood still running down his chest. He pointed his blade at the Nidoking with a cold stare.

"Brace yourself." Laurence told it. "I will show you no mercy."

_**Bursting**_ into the Pokemon center lobby, Commander Chase from Gail company along with his Vulpix Valery charged inside with a few other men, all armed with assault rifles. They rushed up to the counter with Chase talking lead. All dressed in body armor, they were in formation. Amber stood there as they stood in front of the counter.

"Commander Chase, ma'am." he told her. "We came as soon as we could. Where's the-"

He turned his head, witnessing what was going on live in the battle room. His mouth hung open from seeing what appeared to be a shirtless man with a katana take on the Nidoking along with a Pidgeotto in an aviator cap and a Meowth in shorts. He saw Matt and the others huddled in the corner behind the stands. He was busily trying to heal his Growlithe in the yukata with some of the trainers watching nearly in tears from how horrible she looked.

"Holy shit," Chase said, "you didn't say there were civilians trapped in there with it! Open the door for-"

"I can't." Amber told him. Chase looked at he as if she were joking. "The alarm won't shut off, making it impossible to get in or out of there."

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Darrell's face as he watched his friend covering his head in fear on the television. He had to do something. He'd be damned if he was just going to sit there while he watched them all cower like that. He looked all over the screen, noticing a duct. He pointed at it, though was a little small from where the camera was angled. It was coming from the ceiling, which was about twenty feet off the ground in the battle room.

"There!" Darrell said. "There's a way in!"

Chase looked at what he was talking about, frowning.

"No way." Chase told him. "Anyone dumb enough to use that vents would break their damn legs from the fall."

Darrell had jumped from buildings in his past experience as an assassin for Team Rocket. He looked at Chase, extending his hand.

"I can do it." he told him seriously. "Give me a gun and some ammunition and I swear I-"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Chase yelled at him angrily. "I can't hand you over a gun! You'd only get yourself killed, assuming you'd even be able to even land the fall!"

Darrell reached behind him, pulling out his handgun. It caught Amber off guard, having her stumble back a little.

"Please don't make me do this." he told Chase, raising his gun at him. Amber was fell backwards, tripping over her own office chair as Valery and the other men raised their guns at Darrell. Chase didn't even flinch, staring back at Darrell. There was a pause with the trainers one by one realizing what was going on, one of which let out a scream of terror. Chase and Darrell stared at each other, both steady and unmoving.

"You've got the eyes of a killer." Chase told him. "When I met you before you were just some innocent guy with Rachel and your friend Doug."

"Looks can be deceiving." Darrell told him stoically. Chase smirked at him, motioning his men and Valery to lower their weapons. Chase handed his assault rifle over to Darrell, who in return lowered his handgun and took it. Along with that, Chase took off his ammunition pouch, handing that over as well.

"Try not to get killed." Chase told him, now with the trainers calming down. Valery looked at Chase with lack of emotion.

"Permission to assist, Commander?" she asked. Chase thought about it. If anyone else could handle the drop, it would be her. He nodded.

"Permission granted." he told her as Darrell attracted the ammunition pouch-belt around his waist, holding the assault rifle under his arm. After attaching it, he took the gun in both hand, dropping the clip from it, checking to see that it was fully loaded. He placed it back in with it clicking in place.

"Let's go." Darrell told Valery, with both of them rushing towards the vents.

_**Another**_ swing of his katana, another gash in the Nidoking. With it's skin being as strong as steel thanks to the stardust, it did very little damage. It seemed like no matter what they threw at it nothing was hurting it like it should have been. The Nidoking had taken only a minimal sum of actual painful hits, still with it feeling fine and full of energy.

Bomber rammed into it again, smashing his body into it's side. The Nidoking stumbled, but was altogether unaffected by the hit, in retaliation, it swung it's arm at him, getting Bomber in the left wing that he held up to protect him. Emie had stealthily gotten behind the Nidoking once again, jumping onto it's spinal area and unleashing a fury of swipes and cuts. The Nidoking let out a grunt of pain, reviling that it was indeed feeling what she was going. More importantly, here attacks were working.

Laurence swung his katana with a yell, cutting the Nidoking in the left arm. Only a small amount of blood came from the wound he had created, as if it were only a sliver. Emie was still going to town on it's back, angrily taking out her vengeance for what it did to Sissy.

"Emie will not let Meany-Head hurt her friends!" she yelled, still leached onto it's back as it tried to get her off. Emie's classic back attacks were always useful in situations like those. Not only would she do serious damage, but she'd distract her opponent long enough for the others do get some hits in on it as well.

Matt would have been helping give orders, improving their attacks and movements, but was busily trying to save Sissy's life instead. He had used all the potions available, now wrapping Sissy's major wounds with medical bandages, mostly being around her head. Shade could feel the relief, positive that Sissy didn't need to be stabilized by her any longer. She exited Sissy's body, crouching beside Matt.

"She'll be alright." Shade assured her.

"If we can get out of this place in one piece, that is." Rachel told her seriously. "That thing is unstoppable, even for Laurence!"

Otto had finally gotten the Pokeball together, still trying to finish fixing it as he toyed with the insides of it. His fingers worked at a fast and steady pace, not once fumbling over any of the small parts he was working with. Granted, it would have been much easier to do with tools.

"I think I've almost got it." Otto announced, carefully adjusting something within the opened Pokeball he held in his hands. "I just need a little more time."

Matt laid Sissy down on the floor, looking over to Emie, Bomber, and Laurence, who were all fighting their hearts out. He stood up, running out into the fray of things with Shade following close behind him. Rachel looked at him dumbfounded. What was that idiot thinking?!

"Shade," Matt ordered, "Go!"

"You got it!" she told him, flying head on towards the Nidoking.

Emie, who had gotten off it's back by then, watched Shade fly in it's face, giving it a punch to the cheekbone. It shook it's head, acting as if it had a fly in it's face. It swatted at her, only to have her go transparent when it did with his arm going through her. Bomber let out a yell of rage, ramming into the Nidoking with Shade getting out of the way before becoming sandwiched between them. Bomber was in a hold with it, both pushing against each other, latched on, using pure strength against one other. Bomber's wings trembled, losing the fight of bronze with the nine foot, scaled beast.

"Give it all you got!" Matt told him with emotion in his voice. "That bastard is nothing compared to you!"

Bomber felt a power come over him, with Matt's encouragement physically helping him due to having his will meter on green. Bomber felt himself about even now with the Nidoking. Shade got an idea, growing transparent again. Emie and Laurence watched her enter Bomber's body. He started to feel an even more incredible surge of power.

"_We got this, lover!_" Shade told him within his head. Bomber felt so much power from both Matt and Shade that he felt like he could do anything! Bomber's wings tightened around the Nidoking.

"Take this, you scaly piece of crap!" Bomber yelled, bashing his head into it's head repeatedly. Every bash made the Nidoking's focus blur, finally begin hit so hard it was physically sent backwards, sliding against the wooden floor. It let out a growl, getting back up on it's feet.

Bomber spread out his wings, letting out the cry of a mighty bird. Emie, standing by his side, did a flip, landing in a fighting stance as if to taunt the Nidoking. Laurence stood by his other side, holding his katana in both hands in a fighter stance with the eyes of a warrior. The Nidoking let out a roar with the stardust it was drugged on working on full power.

The sound of something crashing was heard, with a vent panel from up above hitting the ground. Coming from the vent above, both Valery and Darrell fell downwards. They hit the floor, both doing a roll to break their falls, landing both on one knee with their guns raised. The Nidoking turned it's body around to see both of them pointing their rifles at him.

"Contact!" Valery announced, with Darrell's trigger finger squeezing. At the same time, both of them started unloading, firing in full bursts at the torso of the Nidoking. Ammunition casings from the bullets bounced on the floor as they shot on target, both with dead-eye accuracy. The bullets didn't pierce the scales nor skin on it's belly, only slightly bruising them as they hit it, bouncing off of it's body. This clearly was painful to the Nidoking, who let out a roar of pain. It started stomping towards them, soon with both of them dropping their gun magazines, replacing them with a full ones.

Matt wasn't sure what he was witnessing. There was the Vulpix he had met back in Viridian city, which was already weird enough to see in a situation like that, along with Darrell _firing_ a _gun_ at the Nidoking. He saw the look in his eye. Darrell had the look of an assassin, fearless and bold. It was like he were seeing a whole other side to him.

Rachel punched Otto in the shoulder, making him look over at the gunfire. Both of them had their jaws hanging open. Doug was relieved, actually smiling with hope in his heart.

"Darrell!" he shouted. Darrell and the Vulpix split up in different directions, making it impossible for the Nidoking to chase after them both. Darrell ran as fast as he could, flashing a smile at Doug before quickly twisting his body around, jumping backwards. While in mid air, Darrell unloaded his gun at the Nidoking with perfect accuracy, even while flying through the air. He landed on his backside, sliding across the floor, hitting his back into the wall. Darrell looked over to Otto, Rachel, Sissy (who was still unconscious), and Doug with a grin as he reloaded

"Help has arrived." he announced. "Keep your heads down and everything will be fine."

He got up from the floor with his gun still in hand after reloading. Rachel rubbed her eyes, refusing to believe what she was seeing.

"Am I going crazy," Otto asked her. "or did I just see Darrell acting like some kind of action movie hero?"

"I think we're both going bat shit." Rachel said, blinking as the fight continued.

Bomber slashed his wings against the back of the Nidoking, cutting into it's back. Even if it was only minimal damage, it still did something. It helped to have both Shade and Matt helping him fight, making his moves a hell of a lot stronger than they already were. Emie was running towards the Nidoking once again with Matt seeing her dash out of the corner of his eye at it.

"Emie," he told her still giving orders, "aim for the eyes!"

With a leap, Emie flew through the air with her claw-like nails extended. The Nidoking turned it's head to see her, but only for a second. It's eyes were cut into by her nails, hitting a weak spot. It let out the loudest roar yet, this one being of immense pain and suffering.

Laurence was charging head on at it as it rubbed it's eyes in pain, while being shot from both sides as Valery and Darrell kept firing their guns at it. Raising his sword up with both hands, Laurence came down at the Nidoking with a slash, cutting into it's chest as it was still blinded.

Both Valery and Darrell's guns clicked, completely dry of ammunition. Darrell reached for his next mag, soon realizing that was the last one. He swore, tossing the gun down as Nidoking let out yet again another roar, being even more angry than before.

With a strong swipe, he hit Bomber once again, getting him in the upper torso. Some feathers flew, with Bomber retaliating with a few more headbutts, getting back at the Nidoking. Emie came up from behind it again, getting on it's back and preforming her typical claw attack. She soon learned it was a horrid mistake when it reached around, grabbing her by the neck.

Matt watched as the Nidoking held Emie in a stranglehold with one of it's beefy hands. With it's other hand, it decked Bomber across the face, making him land down on the floor from the sheer force of the blow. Laurence was soon after kicked when he tried to slash at it, being kicked across the battle room, however still remained on his feet with his shoes skid across the floor. In pain, he knelt down, clenching his eyes as he bled out onto the floor from both his voluntary wound and the wounds that the Nidoking had given him.

Valery set her hands ablaze and rushed at the Nidoking, who still held Emie by the neck, only to also be swatting with it's tail when she tried to attack it. She was hit so hard by it's tail there was a cracking sound heard in her ribcage, being sent back and hitting the wall, sliding down it and landing on her backside. She was out cold with her head hanging down.

"I got it!" Otto hollered, finally fixing the broken Pokeball, only using his bare hands. Rachel watched at her Gengar, the one that had been fighting his ass off for them, knelt on the down with his sword stabbed down into the floor, bleeding out. She extended her hand towards Otto.

"Gimme it." she told her seriously. Otto looked at her unsure.

"You really think you can catch that?" He asked her. She took it from his hand, tossing it in the air and catching it with confidence.

"You're damn right I can!" she told him, fueled by the fact that Laurence was in pain. "I'm not letting that bastard get away with hurting my Gengar!"

Emie struggled as the Nidoking tightened it's grip around her neck. She couldn't breath, feeling as if her head was going to pop like a balloon. Matt just watched, unable to do anything. Bomber was still so dazed from the hit, along with Shade who was assisting him inside his body, that he didn't know what was going on.

A bullet was fired, coming from Darrell's handgun he still had in the back of his pants. The shot hit the Nidoking right in eye, making it drop Emie instantly to cover it's wound. She hit the floor like dead weight, light headed and on the verge of passing out from lack of oxygen. The beast covered it eye still, glaring at Darrell with it's remaining one. It took a single step forward.

"Hey!" Rachel yelled, tossing the Pokeball up and catching it. She was now standing slightly behind Matt and Darrell, who were beside each other now as Darrell's gun was still smoking from the shot he'd taken. The Nidoking looked at her, seeing how pissed she was. Rachel pointed at Laurence and his wounds. "Bad! Very _very_ bad!"

The Nidoking stared at her, blinking. Darrell and Matt looked at each other, surprised to see it stopping all of a sudden. Rachel pressed the button on the back, registering her DNA into the ball. She pointed at the Nidoking, shaking it's finger at it madly. And for some strange reason, it was _listening_ to her with wide eyes.

"You've been a very bad...whatever the fuck you are...and you're going into this ball! Do you understand me?"

The Nidoking moved it's head back a little startled. Rachel's eyes were actually were _scaring_ it. She bared her teeth.

"Answer me, mister!" she yelled. The Nidoking quickly lowered it's head as if she were going to punish him. It acted as if she were his mother. Nodding it's head up and down, she stormed towards it. Laurence saw her walking over to the Nidoking with his heart skipping a beat in fear for her safety.

"My Lady!" he begged her. "Stay away from it!"

She ignored him, coming about a few feet away from it, still with the Nidoking's head lowered. She waved her finger at it, not even close to being done with scolding him.

"You've been a absolute pain in the ass for all of us!" she yelled, pointing over at Laurence again. "You hurt my Gengar, you hurt Matt's Growlithe, you hurt that nice army chick-furry-thingy, whatever the fuck she's supposed to be, you hurt that sweetheart Pidgeotto, _and_ you hurt that adorable Meowth!"

Using Bomber to speak, Shade grumbled to herself.

"Gee," she growled, "I guess I don't exist or something?"

Once again, Rachel ignored the comment directed at her. She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot like an angry mother, still holding the Pokeball in her hand.

"Well," she asked it. "do you have anything to say for yourself?"

The Nidoking started to cry. Not get angry or violent. It _cried_. It was like some little child stuck in a monstrous body with no self control. Rachel sighed, taking the ball in her hand and showing it to him again.

"You're going to get in this ball and _stay_ in this ball until I say otherwise! If you break out, I promise you a punishment you'll _never_ forget, mister!"

There was no way this was happening, Matt thought to himself. The Nidoking could flatten her most likely with a flick of it's finger, and yet it was obeying her like a puppy being scolded for shitting on the carpet. Rachel tossed down the Pokeball with the Nidoking being sucked into it with front of it having a red glow. Everyone watched, including Emie and Bomber who were on the floor.

The ball didn't even budge.

Then the front turned white.

As unbelievable as it was, Rachel caught a Nidoking.

She reached down, picking up the Pokeball with a smirk.

"Good boy." she said to the ball, not sure if it could hear her or not. She turned, seeing everyone gawking at her, even Laurence who was still on his knee. He soon smiled, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Very well done, mistress." Laurence told her. "I am even more honored than I was before to serve such a strong willed woman."

Otto was speechless along with Doug's mouth was still slightly agape.

"How the _fuck_ did that just happen?..." Matt asked Rachel. She smirked at him, tossing the Pokeball with her newly caught Nidoking with one hand and her other on her hip, being cocky as ever.

"Nobody wants to argue with a dominate female figure." Rachel told them confidently. "Especially one like _me_."

"Damn straight." Shade said through Bomber.

The sound of the doors unlocking finally were made.

_**Matt**_ carried Sissy out of the battle room, seeing a horde of trainers alike cheering for them all. Bomber, Emie, and Shade (who was riding on top of Bomber like her personal horse) followed close behind their trainer, getting a standing ovation. Darrell carried Valery out, following behind them with Otto, Doug, and Rachel close behind. Laurence, who was assisted by Rachel who held him under the arm, limped his way through the crowd of people. None of the crew members, except Darrell, realized that they had been watched the entire time and why the Nidoking was so damn strong.

Chase hurried, taking Valery from Darrell.

"She got hit pretty hard." Darrell told him. "I think she'll be alright."

Chase gave him a nod.

"Thank you." he told him as Matt and the crew gathered around him with trainers still cheering for them all. "Not only did you guys stop the stardust threat, but you saved my Vulpix from being slaughtered. I can't thank you enough."

"Wait," Otto said surprised. "you saw what happened?"

Amber rushed over to Matt, helping him take Sissy to the back room.

"Everyone did." Chase explained. "It was live on the camera feed that was in the battle room."

Rachel looked around, seeing all the people rooting for them.

"That would explain all the fans." She said getting a sudden realization.

"What do you mean stardust threat?" Otto inquired. Chase started explaining what they had been informed while the people who had seen the whole things interacted with the crew.

Some trainers, all of which being female, gave Bomber hugs, telling him he did an amazing job. Some of them were even _crying_ when they hugged him, feeling horrible for what they had witnessed him go through.

The guys were gawking over Emie, who was giving _them_ hugs. She didn't realize that they were wanting to feel her boobs against them, too naïve to realize the possibility of them lusting over her attractive figure like the perverts they were.

People were talking to Otto, impressed by how her resembled a broken Pokeball with his bare hands. He acted coy about it, secretly enjoying the attention he was getting.

Amber led Matt back to the backroom of the Pokemon center where the Daisy chamber was. Amber started up the machine with Matt undoing Sissy's sash, more worried about her safety than being awkward about undressing her. Laurence was also led into the backroom by Rachel, setting him down on a chair.

"I'm fine, mistress," he assured her. "really, I am."

"Bullshit." she told him. "You're bleeding all over the place."

"It's merely a flesh wound." he told her as if it were nothing. She eyed him sternly, raising the Pokeball with the Nidoking in it.

"I caught a Nidoking by scolding it." she remind him. "Don't make me lecture you too about taking care of yourself."

Laurence smiled at her warmly, even if he was bleeding everywhere.

"I shall not argue with you, mistress." he told her. "I have far to much respect for you to do something as disrespectful as that."

She felt flattered, smiling back at him as Matt undressed Sissy, putting her into the Daisy chamber. The door metal door closed around her, soon with the machine being heard fill up with liquid. Matt frowned, staring at the machine with a worried feeling in his gut.

"She's gonna be okay." Amber assured him. "If you didn't act like you did though she would have been a goner."

"Hey, don't forget us!" Shade's voice was heard come from behind them. "We helped too, you know!"

Emie, Shade, and Bomber had entered the back room with the door closing behind them.

"With our help you wouldn't have made at all!" Shade told them with a smirk.

Matt smiled at Shade's cockiness with Emie rushing up to him, giving Matt a big hug.

"Emie was so scared!" She told him worried. "That Meany-Head could have been r_eee_ally bad if Rachel didn't catch the Meany-Head."

Amber walked over to Rachel, who was standing beside Laurence, still sitting in a chair he had been placed on. She reached out her hand.

"That reminds me," Amber told her. "I need to do something to that Nidoking."

"Like what?" Rachel asked curiously, handing over the Pokeball with it inside. Amber took it, heading over to one of the original Daisy machines, placing it on it. She started messing with the computer next to it that operated it's functions, going through all the settings.

"I need to purify it." she explained. "Considering the brutal fight it put up, there must be a lot more stardust in it's system than I thought."

"Was that what was making it so strong?" Matt asked her, every now and then looking over at the Daisy chamber Sissy was in, worried if she was going to be okay or not.

"Yes." Amber confirmed. "I need to get it out of it's body so it can return to it's regular state."

"That won't hurt it, will it?" Rachel asked, sounding worried. Shade, who was still sitting on top of Bomber, looked at her as if she were crazy.

"That thing nearly killed all of us and you're worried about hurting _it_?" Shade asked her. Rachel ignored her, seeing Amber smile warmly.

"Not at all." she told her. "If anything he'll feel better. Stardust has a lot of nasty effects, typically causing depression, paranoia,-"

"Wanting to kill everything." Shade added in jokingly in the same tone of voice Amber was using. Bomber looked up at her, still feeling like shit after being beaten around by the Nidoking.

"I'm glad to see you're in a good mood after this little fiasco." he scoffed. Shade smiled at him, a little more seductively than he anticipated. She leaned forward as she sat on top of him, hugging around his head.

"I'm always in a good mood when I'm around you, lover." she told him with a wink. Amber started the purification and healing process with the Pokeball moving about on the tray it was placed on. Bomber squirmed uncomfortably as Shade started giggling. Emie was still hugging Matt, who was looking over at the Daisy chamber.

"Emie is really worried about Sissy..." she told him. Matt nodded his head, hugging her a little tighter to let her know that he was comforted by her presence and touch.

"I am too, Emie." he told her with a worried tone.

Shade rubbed her head on Bomber's as she still sat on him, sort of getting used to her flirting by now.

"Don't you get tired of teasing me?" he asked her with a hint of frustration in his voice. Shade picked up on that, getting a laugh out of his tone.

"Who said I was joking with you?" She asked him. Laurence smiled at the two of them with Rachel doing the same.

"Play nice you two." Rachel told them. Bomber was starting to get even more frustrated. Enough was enough, and he intended on finally making her stop once and for all.

"Alright, fine." Bomber told her. "If you're not joking, then prove it."

Shade got off of his back, causally walking around to face him as everyone watched. Taking everyone by surprise, she leaned forward, kissing him on the beak and holding it for a long time. She moved her head back, seeing Bomber's face completely flushed red. She started laughing, though not as much as she usually did.

"Hah," she said a little quieter than her usual high strung voice. "got you again."

Matt couldn't help but stare. Laurence was even taken back."

"Perhaps it is you who has 'gotten' me." Laurence said, taken by such a romantic, yet simple, kiss. "I have never seen such a lovely kiss before. It was so simple, and yet said 'I love you with every fiber of my being'. Now _that_, dear, is a kiss rarely seen."

Shade looked flustered by Laurence, giving him a dirty look, not even remotely afraid to defend herself.

"It was just a joke." she told her seriously. "It didn't mean anything."

Bomber couldn't look away from her, as if seeing her as a completely different person.

"Wait a minute..." Bomber said stunned. "you really _do_ like me, don't you?..."

Shade's head shot back from him with her face making her look like she were uneasy about something.

"Don't be ridiculous." he told him with a laugh, much different than her usual one. It sounded a little stressed and maybe even a little nervous. "I had sex with Emie last night for crying out loud, don't act like I'm into _you_. Have you already forgotten that I'm a lesbian?"

Matt watched her as she nervously crossed her arms, trying to look like she were being serious with him. He couldn't help but razz her a little.

"Didn't you say Bomber could turn you straight though?" Matt reminded her. Shade looked at him as if she were disgusted. Her expression showed that she was trying too hard to force the emotion.

"It was a _joke_!" she yelled, getting very defensive. "I'm 100%, completely, absolutely-"

Bomber nudged her with his wing. She turned to face him, suddenly being kissed back by her, having his beak pressed against her lips. It was only a quick peck, though to her it felt like forever. He moved back away from her with happy eyes.

"-gay." she finished, blushing visibly.

"I like you too, Shade." he told her kindly. She kept staring at him, as if lost in his eyes. She shook her head, suddenly getting upset.

"That's not funny." she told him sternly. Bomber cocked his head to the side, enjoying her reaction a little too much. He moved up to her, nudging her on the cheek. "C-cut it out!" she demanded.

"Oh, how the tables have turned." he said with a chuckle. "I thought you said I was your avian lover?"

"It was a joke!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Quit...being so...gah!"

She threw her arms in the arm, storming towards the backdoor with Bomber chasing after her playfully.

"Come back!" he told her with a laugh. "Don't you want another kiss?"

"This isn't funny anymore, Bomber!" she yelled at him before the door closed behind them both. Laurence sighed, feeling light at heart with his pain slightly being eased from what he had witnessed.

"I admit," he said to everyone still in the room, "I am soft at heart for seeing young love bloom."

The machine stopped running with it dinging. Amber took the Pokeball off of the Daisy machine, handing it back to Rachel. She held the ball, curious if the Nidoking was feeling any different than before. With the will meter set on Green-Red just to be sure, she released him. Everyone saw the white light before them, being much smaller than before. They all looked down at the floor, seeing something completely different than the Pokemon from before.

Standing only about a foot tall, the purple creature stood on all fours. With scales being replaced with seemingly soft purple skin. It now also had a tiny horn sticking out from it's forehead, having grown back thanks to the Daisy machine. It had little black eyes, appearing to be as innocent as ever with it's large ears and tiny spikes on it's back

The Nidoking had reverted back into a male Nidoran...

"_That's_ what the Meany-Head was?" Emie asked surprised. Amber was also a little surprised, just like everyone else in the room.

"That's was stardust does, I suppose." Amber said. "It turns innocent little Pokemon into big, bad ones."

The Nidoran looked up at Rachel with it's little nose wiggling, sniffing the air. It's large ears moved slightly, getting excited.

"Nini!" it chirped, rushing towards her. It got to her feet, standing on it's hind legs and pawing at her shin. "Nini! Nini! Nini!"

"What's it saying?" Rachel asked with Laurence almost unable to handle the cuteness.

"It's saying 'Mama'." he told her, now with all of his pain nearly gone as he sat there in the chair, bleeding. "He considers you his mother..."

Rachel couldn't help but smile at the adorable Pokemon at her feet, bedning down and picking him up. It nuzzled against her lovingly with Rachel unable hold back smiling.

"You're not really a bad Pokemon, are you?" she told him as Rachel stroked it's head. "You're so cute!"

Emie's eyes got big, rushing over to Rachel's side. She too started to pet it.

"Cutey!" Emie giggled.

The sound of the backdoor opening was heard with Jimmy of all people entering inside. Of course, he had snarl on his face, glancing over at the Nidoran.

"Looks like I wasted a bunch a money on that stupid thing." Jimmy said upset with Rachel and Emie giving him a dirty look. "I guess it's yours now..."

Matt glared at Jimmy as he strolled up to him.

"Well, there's no reason to point fingers about who's fault this is." Jimmy said, not even feeling slightly at fault for buying a stardust drugged Pokemon due to negligence. "So we might as well get back to the business beforehand. You forfeit the match, so I technically won. Pay up."

He extended his hand.

Matt smiled at him, making everyone wonder why the hell he was okay with this. He reached for his envelope filled with money, handing the entire thing over to Jimmy. Looking at it surprised, Jimmy wasn't sure what to say.

"This seems a bit much." Jimmy told him, looking down at the envelope.

"Not really." Matt told him. "You'd be surprised how much doctors cost now a'days."

Jimmy looked back up at him confused, seeing Matt fist fly into his face.

Emie, Amber, Rachel, Laurence, and the little Nidoran watched as Matt proceeded to beat the living shit out of Jimmy. After a few punches, broken ribs, and a bloody nose, Emie covered her eyes as Matt continued to beat on him.

"_**I'm**_ just glad it's over." Darrell told Doug as the two of them sat on the couch. A majority of the trainers were focused on Otto still, asking him questions and marveling over him. Shade and Bomber could be found running in circles in the lobby, with Shade avoiding Bomber as he tired to keep kissing her jokingly.

"I already told you I was joking!" Shade yelled at him upset, only making Bomber laugh even more as he tired to catch her in his beast form still.

"We're you scared at all?" Doug asked, not sure what to think. Darrell looked at his friend, giving him a modest shrug.

"Maybe a little," Darrell admitted. "but fear is only natural when you're in a do or die situation like that."

Doug shook his head at him.

"I meant were you scared that you had to use a gun again." Doug corrected. Darrell didn't respond, looking down at the floor of the Pokemon center lobby.

"Maybe it's best if we changed the subject." Darrell told his friend, not wanting to bring up the past. The door that led into the back of the Pokemon center opened with Matt dragging Jimmy by the collar of his windbreaker.

"It's a real shame about those stairs you fell down, buddy." Matt said to him as Jimmy's limp and broken body was being drug across the Pokemon center lobby with everyone staring, including the trainers. Gail company had already left by then. "You should be more careful the next time you climb up 'em."

Without giving a single fuck, he drug Jimmy outside the Pokemon center, throwing him in the rain at it kept coming down like cats and dogs.. He turned around, entering back inside with Bomber looking a little disappointed in Matt.

"I know he caused this mess," Bomber said very meekly, now with Shade taking a break from running away from him. "but you could at least keep him dry."

Matt frowned, looking back outside at Jimmy who laid on his side in the street outside, completely limp with multiple fractures, broken bones, and bruises. Matt sighed, cursing under his breath.

"Shit," he told Bomber, "maybe you're right. I probably went a little overboard with the beat-um, I mean, I probably should have tried to stop him from falling down all those stairs they've got in the backroom so many times."

Matt went back outside to retrieve Jimmy.

Bomber looked over at Shade, with his head cocking to the side again.

"Where were we, dear?" he asked her jokingly. Her face grew red with anger, and also possibly with a little embarrassment.

"I told you I was joking!" she yelled, with their chase continuing.


	46. Chapter 46 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 46**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Kane was sitting at his desk, reading over letters that had been sent in to him while sipping on coffee to stay awake during another late night of work. With bags under his eyes, he smiled at the unexpected positivity towards Flame of Life that he had recently been receiving. Having a stack of opened letters in a pile now on his desk, Kane reached for another, feeling slightly weak from sleep deprivation, tearing it open with his finger. With his eyes slightly burning as he blinked, the letter was simply entitled "Honest Review" on the top, having no other name to it.

_Don't you feel like some things are a bit Mary Sue?_ it read. _Oh, they all happen to have an entire group of Pokemon with speech ability. Matt doesn't really have flaws besides being a man whore; I dunno, just not a ton of character depth to me. Also, talking down a raging animal into submission? I can't tell if you're trying to write a serious story or more worried about satire._

_On another note; Will we ever know why Emie doesn't have a coin on her head? And do the Gengar and Haunter have a beast form?_

Kane read the letter with a faint smile appearing upon his lips. Perhaps it was the lack of rest that made it so humorous to read or maybe it was just the questions and comments within the letter itself. He reread the letter just to make sure he understood it all, having a minor difficulty focusing his eyes. Another drink of coffee quickly remedied his sleepiness, even for only a short moment. Casually grabbing a piece of parchment with one hand and a pen with the other, Kane soon began to write a response to the letter.

_Dear 'Honest Reviewer,' _ he wrote. _I must begin by saying I'm pleased to hear you're comfortable enough to express your opinions, however, due to my bias of being the writer, I feel as if I must 'defend' my reason's and literature as a whole. Since there is multiple comment's and questions, I'll address each one of them separately._

_ Of things being 'Mary Sue,' I disagree. For things to be 'Mary Sue', that would imply that all of the characters are loved and adored by everyone that they meet, including each other, practically having people bow before them on account of their perfections and wonderful qualities. Honest Reviewer, I'm not sure if you have noticed during these past 45 chapters, but most of the characters, in the main cast at least, are certainly not being bowed down to. Matt has people who either want to kill him or physically abuse him, Rachel is viewed at times to be a complete bitch, nobody even notices Otto half the time, Sissy conflicts with her desired facade of being a graceful woman and lets her anger get a hold of her, Emie at times is viewed by some (mostly Sissy, of course) as the stupid Meowth bimbo who can't even spell her own name and should die a horrible __**horrible**_ _death (I repeat, mostly Sissy's train of thought being projected), Bomber is...well, he's himself really: a loveable Pidgeotto, though I wouldn't call him Mary Sue for being such, Shade is feared for being Haunter and has proven at times to be pestering to the crew (mostly Bomber), Darrell is/was an assassin (the last time I checked assassin's were low on the lovability chart; sad, but true), and Laurence is a scary mother f***er who's done unspeakable things. The only one I could even come close to calling Mary Sue would be Doug and the only reason I would consider that is because I'm sure he could pass off as such. Literally. And before I'm told by others who might read this:"but I love the characters!", I will say in advance "I'm happy for you and you should." Just because you like a character(s) that others may also like doesn't label them Mary Sue._

_ As for the speech ability, I think you may have forgotten how long it was before Emie actually started talking coherently, for the most part at least. Yes, Bomber can already talk, and yes, Shade naturally could already talk due to being human in her past life. That's just how they are. In the Pokemon universe, having a Pokemon that can talk (assuming they couldn't in the first place) is very uncommon. So is being transported to another dimension, fighting an entire gang of thugs, and dealing with a Stardust crisis. I wouldn't have been interested in writing a story if it was bland and unmentionable, so yes, I think I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that a majority of the characters are unusual and unique. I apologize for writing a story that grabs your attention, though if it didn't I doubt you would have made it through to chapter 45. Moving on._

_ I respect that you have your own opinion, Honest Reviewer, I truly do. In fact, I applaud and respect you for it. On the other hand, saying that Matt doesn't have many flaws, after all that has been said about him and that only __**some**__ have been stated of what are going to be said about his characteristics and flaws in the future, I'm at a loss as to how you've formed such a concept. Flame of Life focuses on choices, whether they be major or miniscule. Matt has had a very dark past (most of which has yet to be relieved) and has more negative qualities than just being "a man whore." Matt's choice making skills is one of his major flaws with most of said choices not being well thought out and ending bittersweet._

_ As for not having a ton of character depth, I feel as if I should be insulted by this comment, though am not. That is your opinion and I will respect it. However, considering I'm talking longer to write the story after literally stating that I want to make sure I develop the characters and not rush things, this comment feels somewhat forged out of spite towards me. In my opinion, once again being bias since I wrote the story, the depth of each character is more vast than most stories I've either created or have read. The characters have motive and drive depending on what they stand for. Some characters tend to view each situation the crew has been placed in differently. What some view as a disadvantage some might see as a positive thing. They each have their own interests, thoughts, ways of handling situations, and even choice of dialect. I have never once said an opinion was stupid, Honest Reviewer, though I admit I feel tempted by this one, especially after the vast amount of hours I've consumed on capturing and portraying this subject of character depth._

_ However, your comment on the talking down a raging 'animal' has some validation, I suppose. I cannot expect you to think as I do nor spend time to piece the fragments of information I've scattered purposely regarding that issue. The Nidoran that had been drugged up on Stardust was forcefully evolved into a Nidoking because of such. His body was sculpted into something of great power. But not it's mind. The Nidoking still had the mind of a small, innocent Nidoran, in the stages of growing from a tiny baby to an adult. In this period of time, it is certainly to be considered fact that it would need a mother or at least a mother figure that it would look up to and respect; a mother that is somewhat forceful and demanding like most are to their young to insure they grow up properly. Rachel herself is very forceful and demanding, not taking shit from anyone do to her personality. With her voice being very mother-like and her tone very scolding, the Nidoking suddenly saw her as the mother figure it had been torn away from thanks to it's previous owner that had drugged it up. Laurence in fact states that when the Nidoran kept saying "Nini" it was basically referring to Rachel as it's mother._

_ With that in mind, Honest Reviewer, you asked if this story was to be taken seriously or if it were more of a satire. Though I don't think satire is the correct term I would use, consider it to be both. The story has it's moments where it is very serious while at other times it is more humorous and light hearted. With multiple elements like adventure, action, and romance in the story, I feel that humor and comedic elements are just as important._

_ Since that's now out of the way, I can finally get to your inquires, both of which I have had asked a few times in fact. For starters, yes, I will be explaining why Emie is missing the coin on her head as well as her past that I have hinted at like I do with everyone else's past. In the story, there will be times where I take the time, most likely with an entire chapter, to explain the majority of the past of the character the chapter is focused on. Before doing so, I will hint around at it a bit. The observant reader will pick up on things before they are formally addressed. With that in mind, keep your eyes peeled for clues I might drop from time to time. Don't fret if you have missed anything; It will be brought back into the light in a matter of time and be explained, though I implore you, Honest Reviewer, please be patent with me. I have no intentions on rushing this story._

_ As for the beast forms involving Haunters and Gengars, the answer is once again yes. Jasper, the Gastly who was putting Matt and his friends through their own personal hell, had a beast form, which was described when he turned into a demon-like creature. Imagine Haunters and Gengars to look like demons as well. The higher up the scale you are, the more terrifying you look. I admit that I have left a lot of things in the dark when it comes to Shade and Laurence and their true natures, but I assure you I will be explain it soon enough._

_ Again, I have no ill feelings toward you, Honest Reviewer, and respect the fact that you spoke up like you did. I hope this sheds some light on your questions and makes you reconsider your judgment calls. I know you did not bring this issue up, but I am aware of my occasional (and sometimes frequent) spelling and grammatical issues. As it stands, sleep has become a luxury for me thanks to my life as of now with most of my chapters being written in a single night, typically finishing when the sun comes up as I drag myself across my floor and under the blankets of my bed. Even after trying to proof read, I have issues catching my mistakes. Please forgive me for this inconvenience along with others you may have._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_-Krimson Kane_

Kane yawned as he set down his pen, reaching for the small stack of new envelopes he kept in his desk drawer. He grabbed for one, looking back up to his desk, then suddenly double taking. Looking down in the drawer, he grabbed the magazine that had caught his eye. With the cover being of a naked anthropomorphic fox, having fairly attractive features, he held it confused. When the hell did he put that in his desk? He didn't remember keeping that issue in the office.

Casually flipping through the pages, he saw all the pinups of sexy animal woman. He got a laugh at some of the poses, clearly amused by it all. Along with aroused. He kept flipping though the pages of the dirty magazine, stopping at a page with an anthropomorphic wolf woman sitting in a leather chair with her tail covering her important parts and her arms over her chest. It made him smile.

"I wouldn't mind having another assistant like _that._" Kane joked to himself. A figure standing in his office doorway suddenly caught his attention.

"I'm surprised those pages aren't stuck together." a friendly voice told him jokingly. Nearly throwing the magazine in the air from surprise, he looked up to see a face he hadn't seen in a while. She had short dark hair with brown eyes that were looking at him rather entertained by his reaction. Her chest size was small though fitting of her personality and attractive figure, wearing pants that showed off her curves and well developed legs. With her black coat on, and fully zipped up, she stood in the doorway with a smug smile.

"Knotty?" Kane said still surprised to see her standing there. "When on earth did you get here?"

She shrugged, walking into his office and over to his desk. Knotty happily smiled at him.

"Your Raichu let me in," she told him "who by the way has a nice rack. She's cute."

"You mean Clara?" Kane said, not bothering to hide the magazine from Knotty considering their close friendship. "I was unaware that she was even up at this hour."

Kane took a sip of coffee as Knotty looked down at the dirty magazine on his desk.

"Your furry porn?" Knotty asked him playfully. "Typical Kane..."

He narrowed his eyes at her, taking a slight amount of offense to her teasing.

"Don't point fingers." he told her. "I'm not the one who's getting off with having toes shoved in their vagina."

Knotty raised an eyebrow at him, narrowing her gaze like he was, though was still clearly being playful with him.

"That only happened a few times." she told him. "And I don't even remember how they got there."

Kane stared at her, not sure if he had misheard her due to being so tired. He opened his mouth, but then closed it, not even wanting to bother asking how that was even possible. With another yawn, he grabbed his response letter to the "Honest Review" and put it in the envelope, scribbling down the address from where it had been sent from. While doing so, Knotty looked over at the letters on his desk.

"Looks like things have been going well considering this was a 'stupid idea'." Knotty teased with Kane letting out a sigh as he licked the envelope closed.

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Kane told her very dryly. "I frankly didn't expect anybody to read this at all."

Hearing the pessimism and negativity in his voice, Knotty shook her head at him.

"You're a good writer." she assured him. "People like what you do."

Kane just rolled his eyes at her, setting his letter down on the desk.

"Whatever you say." he told her. She once again glared at him.

"If you weren't a good writer nobody would be reading your story." She told him. "You've got a lot of people who like what you've written so far."

"My writing is crap." Kane told her bluntly with little emotion loaded in his words, staring at her completely stoic. Sleepiness was the main reason of his lack of emotion. "My spelling is worse than a forth grader's, my word choice at times is repetitive, and I'm-"

"-completely negative about _everything_." Knotty interrupted. "Lighten up on yourself for once. You're doing a good job."

Kane once again grabbed his coffee, talking a sip.

"Whatever you say..." he repeated with his lips near the rim of his coffee mug. Knotty let out a loud sigh, shaking her head. She reached for his dirty magazine, opening it up and showing a random page to him.

"Look," she said jokingly, "naked woman. Be happy."

Kane looked at her with dead eyes, having a glazed over look in them.

"You mean the kind that I'll never get voluntarily in my life?" Kane pessimistically joked. She narrowed her eyes at him again, lowering the magazine down a little.

"I'm gonna hit you..." she told him slightly frustrated by how uncooperative he was with her attempts to cheer him up. Kane slightly leaned forward on his desk, turning his cheek towards her.

"Just make sure you do it hard enough that it'll break my neck, okay?" he told her sounding somewhat serious. Knotty lowered her head with yet another sigh, setting down the dirty magazine.

"Why must you be so difficult?" she inquired with a single laugh. Kane shrugged, leaning back into a regular sitting position.

"Why must I be so unattractive and worthless?" Kane added jokingly, though with a slight hint of honest opinion in his tone. At that moment, Clara entered the office, wearing her usual attire of blouse and skirt. She looked at Knotty and Kane, unsure if she were interrupting an important conversation. Not wanting to be disruptive, she stood by one of the chair with her hands together.

"I swear," Knotty told him with a laugh, "one of these days..."

She turned around, surprised to see Clara standing there. With a light bulb going on in her head, she smiled at her mischievously. Clara nervously tensed up when she approached her, getting close to her large ear. Knotty started whispering something with the cheeks on Clara's face glowing red from embarrassment. Knotty moved away from her ear, making her way to the door.

"Bye bye , Kane." she said to him before leaving. "See you later."

Clara looked at the door Knotty exited out of, then looked over to Kane, so red in the face that it even made Kane awkward to stare back at her. She looked away from him, making him sigh.

"What'd she say?" Kane asked her, putting his hand on his head as if waiting for a bombshell to go off.

There was a silent pause.

"I feel dirty thinking about it..." Clara told him honestly. Kane once again sighed, not wanting to know what it was now.

"I think it's time we went to bed, Clara." Kane told her with another sigh. He looked up at her, seeing how embarrassed she looked. He too grew uncomfortable with his comment.

"Separately!" he quickly clarified. Clara's expression was still a bit flustered, making Kane hit his head on his desk.

"God damn it, Knotty..." he groaned.


	47. Chapter 47

_**Chapter 47**_

Sissy's eyes shot open.

Green liquid surrounded her with her realizing she was in the Daisy Chamber. How she had gotten in the there was beyond her knowledge, with the last thing she remembered was being struck across the face by the Nidoking. What happened?"

The fluid started to drain out the bottom with oxygen filling the tank. Sissy coughed, feeling the water-goo slip out of her lungs. She took a few deep breathes, feeling better than she had in a while as the Daisy chamber completely drained of the fluid. The chamber door opened slowly with the light in the back room almost blindingly bright to her eyes.

Matt was sitting in a chair near the Daisy chamber and had been waiting for Sissy the entire time, worried that she'd never awaken. She'd been in there for a few hours, with the time nearing nine at night. He stood up when he saw her exit, feeling his heart leap with joy. With her fur still damp from the Daisy chamber fluid, she exited with her eyes closed shut from the light in the back room. Everyone else in the room had left hours ago with Matt being the only one seeing her unclothed, a little ashamed with himself as he stared at her figure. She was as beautiful as ever.

Sissy opened her eyes, seeing Matt smiling to see her. She was taken by surprise when he embraced her, giving her a worried hug.

"Thank god," he said with his arms wrapped around her. "I was so worried I-"

Sissy shoved Matt off of her, covering her body as he hit the floor. Matt cringed from landing hard on his backside, looking up at her to see that she had wrapped her tail around her lower privates with her arms covering her breasts. She refused to look at him, clenching her eyes closed and turning her head away from his direction.

Matt got to his feet with a frown, pointing over to the counter closest to him where her yukata and sash were resting next to her bokuto in a nice fold. Matt wasn't sure why he even bothered if she wasn't going to look at him.

"Your stuff is on the counter." he told her sounding saddened. "I'm sorry."

He turned, walking away with a sinking feeling in his stomach. His shoes were the only sound that filled the quietness of the backroom of the Pokemon center. At least she was okay...

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he heard Sissy suddenly yell. Surprised, he stopped and turned around again, seeing her staring at him with her brow furrowing, glaring at him intensely without warning. She was still covering herself with Matt noticing that she was starting to shake, most likely in anger. Suddenly, she removed her hands from her chest with her tail unwrapping from her body, storming over to him completely naked.

She got in his face, showing that her eyes were watering up.

"Why do you always stand up for me!?" she yelled.

What kind of question was that?

"Sissy, I-"

"No!" she yelled. "Don't say anything unless you're going to get angry! Hit me!"

Matt was taken back by her demand, taking a step backwards from her.

"What?!" was all he could say. She punched his chest.

"Why won't you get angry with me!?" she screamed, hitting him in the chest again. "You're always sticking up for me! I treat you like trash! I've ruined your life! And I lost the stupid fight!"

She hit him in the chest again, now starting to pound on it with her hands in balls, thrusting them at him in stab-like motions. Matt watched as she did this, with her hits growing weaker and weaker over time.

"Hit me dammit!" she told him. "Why won't you fight back!"

Matt didn't do anything, only watching her as she kept hitting his chest. She finally stopped, resting her hands against him, physically shaking in a mixture of sorrow and anger. He grabbed her shoulders, feeling her soft and damp fur.

"Sissy..." he told her softly. "I'm not mad at you..."

She glared at him with her teeth baring.

"WHY NOT?!" she screamed. "I've only caused you pain and suffering!"

He frowned, shaking his head.

"No you haven't." he told her "That's not true, Sissy. You're special to me."

Sissy was shocked, staring at him at a loss for words. She soon grew angry again.

"No I'm not!" she screamed. "I'm just a burden to you and everyone else!"

Matt shook his head at her once again, seeing her start to cry.

"Sissy," he told her, "you're not a burden. I care about you."

She shoved him away from her with tears forming in her eyes. She refused to let her emotions take control, wiping them away. After weeks of holding in her feelings and avoiding Matt, they were all starting to flood out at once. Anger and sadness finally overcame her.

"Get the hell away from me!" she told him, hiding her face. She couldn't stop herself from crying, sniffling as a tear fell onto the floor, followed right after by another. Sissy felt a hand grab her arm. She looked at him to yell, only to have Matt pull her to him. He hugged her, refusing to let go.

"No." He said sternly as he held onto her. She struggled with him, trying to push him off of her. He stared at her with seriousness and sincerity. "I'm not letting go until you agree to stop avoiding me."

Sissy turned her head, refusing to look at him. It was awkward enough for her that he was manhandling her, holding her against him while she was completely naked. Matt wasn't letting up on his grip, holding Sissy around the upper waist.

"Just because I can't be anything more to you right now doesn't mean I don't love you..." Matt told her honestly. "Until that time comes, I want us to be at least friends. That means no more avoiding me and no more hiding your feelings from everyone. Okay?"

Sissy didn't say anything, furrowing her brow even more as Matt held her. She felt him pull her even closer to him, blushing suddenly when her breasts were pushed against his chest. Unable to help her emotions, her tail started wagging slowly side to side like a metronome

"F-fine..." she mumbled. Matt pulled her even closer, now with her entire body pressed against him. Groin included. Her face lit up even more along with her tail motioning slightly faster with excitement.

"I can't hear you." Matt told her with a smirk. Sissy was so embarrassed yet aroused at the same time she didn't know how to feel. She couldn't even look him in the face.

"I said fine!" she yelled.

Matt let go of her with a smile, pleased with her answer. Her tail was still wagging, making him chuckle. It was actually really cute. She stood there, not saying a word while looking down at the floor.

Sissy suddenly lunged for him, making Matt panic in fear, expecting to be hit.

She instead hugged him.

Sissy held onto him as if she were going to loose him if her grip loosened any. Matt reached around, hugging her back as the two of them embraced.

Her tail continued to wag contently.

"_**That's**_ so cool!" a trainer told Otto as he resembled a Pokeball after taking it apart. "You must be like a genius or something!"

Otto chuckled, spinning the Pokeball on his finger, enjoying the attention he'd been receiving all day after the incident with the stardust. They were all in the lobby still with the rest of the crew sitting around in the lobby. Rachel was petting her newly acquired Nidoran, which was now peacefully sleeping in her lap. The entire time she did Emie hovered over her behind the lobby couch, giggling at how cute he was. Laurence was sitting beside his mistress, now having been healed with Daisy solution and fully clothed. When he was being healed, Rachel had cringed every time she heard the burning of the solution applied to his skin. Laurence acted like it was nothing.

Otto was over in the corner of the lobby, still with people fan-boying around him, savoring every second of attention he received. As for Shade and Bomber, they were sitting on the floor, playing checkers as they all waited for new about Sissy. Every time Bomber got to the other end of the board he told her "kiss me" instead of "king me", making her act even more frustrated than she already was. Doug and Darrell had gone back to the suite with Darrell not wanting to get attention from anyone after his stunt.

"I hate stupid checkers..." Shade mumbled as she moved a piece forward. Bomber snickered, making one of his pieces jump over her's, though took him a while on the account of his large wing he used to grapple onto it.

"You seem distracted." Bomber told her with a chortle. "Is my sex appear clouding your judgment?"

He started laughing at her with Shade growling. She angrily swatted at the board, messing up all the pieces and ruining the progress of their game.

"How's that for clouded judgment?" she snapped, getting up from the floor and storming off in a random direction of the Pokemon center. Even if she was irritated by Bomber's joking, she was taking it a little too serious in his opinion. Did it really bother her that much?

Rachel glanced over to Otto, who was boasting about his IQ in a round about way, talking about how easy it was for him how to figure out how to reassemble the Pokeball. She rolled her eyes, petting the Nidoran with Emie letting out another giggle.

"So cute!" she tittered. Rachel smiled, still petting her newest Pokemon.

"I still don't know what to call him." Rachel admitted. Bomber stood up from the floor, stretching his wings out with a yawn.

"How about Dusty?" Bomber asked her. She thought about it, then shook her head.

"I'll be honest," she admitted, "I'm not sure I wanna be reminded of him being on a rampage as a Nidoking on that Stardust shit. Not to mention that sorta sounds like a porn star name."

The thought of porn reminded Emie of her fun filled night with Shade, making her once again giggle to herself.

"Boobies..." she laughed.

Laurence thought about it, stroking his chin.

"Would a name like Benedict suffice, my Lady?" Laurence asked her. "I've found to always like the name."

Rachel thought about it, squinting her eyes unsure as she kept petting the Nidoran.

"Maybe it's just my mind going to the gutter," she told them. "but Benedict sounds like Bene-dick. I guess that's just me though. And it sounds a little too posh."

Emie got excited, jumping up and down behind the couch with her hand raised.

"Emie knows!" she told her. "Emie knows! What if Rachel called the cutey Horny!"

Emie's intentions were pure, getting the name from the small horn on it's head. She innocently watched as Rachel stared back at her in disgust.

"No..." was all Rachel had to say to that. Emie frowned, unaware of why her suggestion was shot down. Laurence crossed his legs, closing his eyes to think about the events that had taken prior to that day.

"I still find it hard to believe that- Jimmy, is it?- had purchased such a Pokemon. I've never had to forcibly use my blade on anything like that before."

"Which was a little freaky." Rachel told him. "I've was meaning to ask you how the heck you did that blood-sword trick of yours. And your upper suit just vanished without a trace."

"It's a Ghost thing, my Lady." Laurence told her with a charming smirk. "Ghost Pokemon have the ability to create, disappear, and change matter around and within them. For example, what I wear is merely what I choose to make it."

Rachel remembered the Gastlys in the hellish realm they had been in in the past, recalling that they summoned weapons with ease.

"But why did you have to cut into yourself?" Rachel asked sounding a little concerned. "Couldn't you just make it appear?"

Laurence simply smiled at her with his purple eyes opening once again, giving a positive glow it seemed.

"I'm afraid that isn't the greatest of topics to speak of openly, mistress." he told her sounding slightly apologetic. "Perhaps another time."

Emie stared at Laurence, remembering how he used his sword. She opened her mouth, but then closed it, feeling slightly shy all of a sudden. Emie's ears folded back with a sad sigh. Laurence turned his head to look at her, seeing that she clearly had something on her mind.

"Is something the matter, dear?" he asked her. Emie looked at him, averted her eyes somewhere else, then forced herself to make eye contract once more.

"Um... Emie have a question...but Emie isn't sure if Laur_ie_ would get mad at Emie..."

Laurence smiled at her with his usual charmed expression still prevalent.

"There's not shame in asking." he told her with a smirk. Emie opened her mouth once more, then closed it again and shook her head. "Come now, dear, I'm sure anything you ask me will be completely fine."

Emie took a deep breath with her ears going back up.

"Well, Laur_ie_ was very im...im...imprez..."

"Impressive?" Rachel chimed, helping Emie with the larger word she wasn't used to saying. Emie nodded.

"Yes," Emie told Laurence, still clearly shy about what she wanted to ask, "Laur_ie_ was im-pres-sive when Laur_ie_ was fighting. Does...does Laur_ie_ think Laur_ie_ could teach Emie how to be a ninja?..."

Laurence stared at her, then blinked suddenly.

"Dear," he told her sounding very calm, "I'm afraid I couldn't teach you how to be a ninja. In my past life I was a samurai, whom were actually respectable. If anyone besides yourself had asked me such a question when I was still alive I would have decapitated them the second that filthy word was spoken. However, I can tell you meant no disrespect and that you do indeed wish to follow your passion and I will respect that."

Emie frowned with Rachel and Bomber getting bug eyed.

"You...were a samurai?" Rachel said surprised.

"I do however know someone who _could_." Laurence told Emie sounding a little strained, not responding to Rachel. "If you _must_ follow your passion, even though I despise everything about the way of the ninja, I will introduce you to the the leader of the ninjutsu school tomorrow here in Pewter city. Is this what you would like?"

Emie suddenly smiled with her tooth protruding from behind her lip.

"Yes!" Emie said ecstatic. "Emie would like that a lot!"

Amber, who was sitting at the front desk and working on the computer, heard the backroom door open. She turned, seeing both Sissy and Matt exit. Sissy was now fully clothed in her yukata with her bokuto held to her side with the sash.

"Stardust?" Sissy said surprised. Matt had busily explained what had happened to her, making her frown. "No wonder I lost..."

"I'm glad to you you're alright." Amber told her friendlily. Sissy smiled back at her, seeming much happier than she had the past few days.

"Thank you." she told her. The sound of footsteps were heard coming toward the front desk, being Rachel (with the Nidoran still resting in her arms), Emie, Laurence, and Bomber making there way over.

"I see she's still in one piece." Bomber said chipper. Sissy nodded her head, showing her good mood to everyone, which was a nice change of pace.

"Of course I am," she laughed. "if I wasn't then you wouldn't have anyone to spar up against, now would you?"

Emie jumped over the counter with ease, hugging onto Matt with the biggest smile.

"Emie gets to be a ninja!" she told with. Sissy and Matt stared at her as she clung to him, soon with Laurence sighing.

"With you're permission, naturally." Laurence said, sounding a little tense about the situation. Even if he wanted to help Emie, that didn't mean he had to like the fact that it was her wish to become a good for nothing ninja. Matt stared at Laurence surprised.

"You're going to show her how to be a ninja?" Matt said vexed. Laurence closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"No," he clarified, feeling as if he were flossing with bared wire, "I'll be introducing her to someone who will, even if I dislike it."

Amber awkwardly stood between there group, looking at all of them. Rachel felt her question he had neglected to answer bubbling up into her mind once more.

"So you were a samurai when you were alive?" Rachel asked. The word samurai made Sissy's eyes widen, now with her too yearning to know the answer to the question. Laurence nodded his head with his pride coming back to him.

"I still am if you haven't noticed." he told her. "Though I don't like to brag about it."

Sissy couldn't believe it, she just stared at him.

"Wait," Sissy said almost in shock. "A samurai?!

Laurence could hear the enthusiasm in her voice, nodding to her inquiry.

"I've seen that you favor the stances." Laurence told her perceptively. "Though, you've still go a lot to learn. I mastered the art when I was still alive, though still like to sharpen my skills when I get the chance."

Sissy quickly bowed her head before him. Matt nor anyone else there had ever seen her act so humbled.

"F-forgive me!" she nearly begged. "If I would have know you were a warrior I would have shown more respect!"

Laurence laughed at her, shaking his head as she raised hers.

"There is no need for that." he assured her. "Believe it or not, I'm not as stuck up on the edict as you might think. A waste of time, really."

Emie's short attention span made her lose interest in the topic at hand, looking back up to Matt as she held onto him.

"Can Emie learn to be a ninja?! Can Emie, please?!"

Matt looked at her unsure.

"Well," he told her, "that all depends. If it costs anything than I don't think so. Jimmy's got my money now."

Laurence shook his head at Matt.

"It won't cost a thing." he told him. "The teacher and I have some history. Well, more or less him and our bloodlines do. He'll teach it free of charge."

"Okay," Matt said with a nod, "but I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be in Pewter city. If we can leave soon than-"

"That ain't gonna happen." Amber told him, feeling as if she were the burden of bad news. "After Gail company came back to take Jimmy into custody for questioning a few hours ago- he was still 'sleeping' on the couch you put him on, Matt- they told us that the issues with Team Rocket are getting a little worse than they anticipated. They don't think it's gonna be open for at least another month."

Rachel nearly choked on her own spit.

"A _month?!_" Rachel freaked out. "Damn, is it really gonna take that long to sort shit out?!"

"I'm afraid so." Amber shrugged, then turned to Matt with a small smirk. "At least that gives us plenty of time to go on a date like you promised."

Everyone got quiet, including Emie and Sissy who stared at Matt at a loss for words. He looked at everyone putting his hands up as if to defend himself

"Geez," he told everyone, "it's not like that! It's just a friendly get together. With a girl."

"In other words a date." Rachel said crossing her arms. "Damn, Matt, don't you think you've led enough girls on already? First Emie, then Sissy, now Amber...well, there was Luna too, but I'm not sure if you were serious about that. But guessing by the way you slapped her ass, I'm taking it you had more than just _some_ intent in mind."

Neither Sissy or Emie looked upset, rather, appeared hurt. Matt shook his head, putting his hands on Emie's shoulders who was still latched onto him.

"Hey now," he told them, "it's just between two friends. Nothing more."

Amber looked down slightly, feeling completely shot down.

"Yeah," she told everyone. "friends..."

Bomber awkwardly coughed.

"Hey," he said to everyone, trying to take the heat off of Matt, "it's been an eventful day. How about we go upstairs and watch a movie or something. We could play a board game? Does that sound fun, Emie? Huh?"

Emie let go of Matt, letting her arms droop weakly by her sides.

"Okay..." she told him, not even caring about being a ninja anymore. They all started making there way towards the elevator with Matt being the only one staying behind. He watched as Sissy walked away as well with a sigh. She felt Matt quickly grabbing her shoulder. She turned, seeing him smile. The longer she stared back at him, the more she felt completed to smile too.

"No more sulking, okay?" he told her. She nodded.

"Alright." she told him, then continuing on her way towards the elevators with everyone else. Matt turned to Amber, shrugging with a sigh as she stood there with her hands by her sides.

"At least they're not mad about it." Matt chuckled. Amber shrugged, suddenly acting shy around him.

"You don't have to go on a date with me if you don't want to..." she told him timidly. With some of the hair sticking out of his hat moving with him, Matt shook his head with a frown.

"Of course I want to." he told her. "You've been really nice to me. It'd be nice to go out with a friend and enjoy myself for a change."

The word friend felt so wrong to her, making her force a smile.

"Okay." she told him, trying to hide the fact that she wanted something much more. "How about tomorrow night?"  
"Sounds good." Matt told her, then suddenly realized that he was bone broke thanks to Jimmy. "I just remembered I don't have any money..."

"It's fine." she told him with a small smile. "I can pay."

"Are...you sure?" Matt asked not completely sold. "I feel bad not being able to pay..."

"It's fine." she told him with a laugh. "That's what...friends do..."

Speaking of which, Matt thought to himself, where was Otto? He started looking around the Pokemon center lobby for him, not seeing him anywhere. During that time, Amber let out a silent sigh, shaking her head.

"Friends..." she repeated to herself quietly.

_**It**_ felt strange getting noticed by so many people. Otto wasn't used to be treated so well either, even by Matt or Rachel. Still, Matt had always been a good friend and Rachel...well, she was Rachel, treating him like crap, but in a 'nice' way. He guessed. Thinking about it, he just shrugged. Whatever.

Still in his hand was the Pokeball that the trainer from before asked him to take apart and put together. Otto tried to give it back to them, but they insisted he keep it. Not only was Otto not used to being treated well, but he was also not used to being given free stuff. He causally tossed the empty Pokeball in the air and caught it as he wandered the many halls of the Pokemon center's bottom floor.

The directories he kept passing showed a shit ton of rooms, having everything from an indoor swimming pool to even a arts and crafts room. The Pokemon had literally everything you could think of. Otto passed a room with the inscription "Yoga Room" over it. The door was open with only a handful of trainers attending the night class being held. He kept walking, passing another room that said "Tennis Court." Otto passed by the glass wall that took place of a normal one, seeing two people playing a game. He just shook his head, amazed by all the things to do at the Pokemon center. Why hadn't he gone exploring before instead of just sitting in the suite playing games?

He took a turn down another hall, whistling a tune stuck in his head. It felt like they'd been in Pewter city forever and god knew how much longer they'd be stuck there. As frustrating as it was, Otto decided it couldn't be helped. Glancing over his shoulder, he passed a room. Suddenly, he stopped, backpedaling his way to the door once again. Above it said "Music Room."

Otto stared at the door, seeing that it was closed. Curiosity got the better of him, making him put his hand on the door with the Pokeball in his other hand. He turned the knob, slowly opening the door.

Within the room he saw multiple instruments. There were a few guitars hanging on the wall, a majority of which were acoustic, a drum set in the corner, and a bunch of other miscellaneous things resting in boxes, looking untouched. What had caught his eye was the large piano in the back of the room with the piano 'lid' down.

Entering the room made Otto realize how musty it smelt. The place looked deserted, unused for who knew how long. While everyone was busy with the rest of the Pokemon center, it looked like the music room was going untended. It almost made him sad. Here were all of these wonderful pieces of art left to be caked in dust. As he made it to the center of the room, he glanced down, seeing that the hardwood beneath his feet looked a little old too. Not rotten or falling apart. Just old.

The piano beckoned to him with Otto unable to refuse. In his childhood, while striving to achieve greatness in all aspects of life, he was a very avid piano player. Most of his childhood nights were spent over his small child keyboard, trying to stretch his fingers across the keys and hit the right notes. Nobody had force him to do so, though, was strongly motivated to in hopes to win even the smallest amount of affection from his mother. It never worked.

Even if his plan to make his mother love him by playing the piano failed, he still had gotten pretty good. Otto sat down at the bench, popping his fingers into place along with her back as he arched it backwards. After setting his empty Pokeball on the piano top, his hands moved down to the keys with Otto closing his eyes. How did Fur Elise go again? He hit a note, being a little off, soon moving to the next. Getting the right one this time, he started to play slowly, then made his way up to the correct tempo. Before he knew it, he was playing Beethoven like a pro.

The music was nearly flawless with Otto getting a little lost in his own tune. He closed his eyes, being taken away by it. His digits acted almost on their own, hitting the notes with ease. The more he played the more he had forgotten how relaxing it was to do. It was a shame he was the only one to enjoy the music. Or so he thought.

"That's a nice tune." a voice said from behind him. Otto suddenly hit the wrong keys from surprise. He turned his head, seeing a man leaning up against the open doorway. He had red spiked hair and was wearing a black hoodie along with gray cargo pants. His sneakers were black and white with the laces nicely tied. He walked across the room with a charming smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you." he apologized. "I'm just not used to listening to anyone other than myself play."

Otto looked at him, seeing his dark eyes have a shimmer-like quality to them. He kept walking forward, standing near the bench that Otto was sitting on.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" the man asked him. Otto smiled, scooting over.

"Not at all." Otto said friendlily. The man sat down on Otto's left side, soon beginning to play. Doing his best to match up the notes with him, Otto's notes blended perfectly with the strangers. The two of them started playing, both highly skilled. Whoever this man was he was good, almost better than Otto.

"I saw you on TV today." the stranger told him, glancing up at the Pokeball Otto had set on the piano top. "I've gotta say, that was pretty impressive with the Pokeball thing you did."

They kept playing with Otto smiling at the stranger.

"Thanks." Otto told him, glancing down to see that he had a knife attached to his side. In white letters, it read 'Widow Maker.'

"I take it you're a friend of Matt's then?" the stranger asked him. Otto and the man kept playing with Otto looking at him questioningly.

"You know Matt?" Otto asked him surprised. The man laughed, still playing the keys in tune with Otto.

"I guess you could say that." he told him with a chuckle. "Him and I bumped into each other a while little while back. Never really got to know him that well, but I can definitely say he's a tough guy. And from what I saw today he's got a lot of people who care about him."

Otto just nodded, still playing. The music from the piano echoed all throughout the room with the stranger humming along with the melody they were creating. He closed his eyes, having a large smile on his face.

"It's nice to unwind with a little music." he told Otto. "It's even better not having wounds anymore."

"Wounds?" Otto asked. The stranger nodded slowly, still with closed eyes and a smile.

"I got hurt recently." the stranger told him. "I took a nasty spill after getting hurt with my own knife ironically enough."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Otto told him sincerely. The stranger shrugged, still playing piano with him.

"What's in the past is in the past." he told him. "I'm just glad I caught up to Matt. I've been needing to meet with him for a while now. We have some unfinished business I guess you could say."

Otto looked at the stranger, now even more curious.

"What kind of business?" Otto asked. The stranger looked at him with a smile.

"Oh you know," he responded in a joking tone. "fight to the death. See who's a stronger man and all that jazz."

Otto and him both laughed simultaneously with the stranger stopping. He stood up and removed himself from the piano, checking his wristwatch.

"I better get a move on." the stranger told him. "It's getting late."

Otto stopped playing, turning to face the stranger who began to walk towards the open door. He suddenly stopped, as if almost forgetting something.

"When you get a chance," the stranger told him, "tell him Gavin said hello, would you?"

"Sure." Otto told Gavin with a smile. "I'll let him know once I'm done."

"No rush." Gavin told him with a chuckle, taking a turn towards the door once again. He left, closing the door behind him with the noise of it closing echoing through the room. Otto grinned with a nod of his head.

"What a nice guy." he said to himself, turning back to the piano. He began to play again, closing his eyes and letting the music consume his emotions and sooth him. As he played, another listener made it's way towards him. Being a little less than a foot tall, it had poked it's head out from behind the drum set where it had been previously sleeping. The sound of Otto and Gavin playing had woken it up. It made it's ways over on two stubby little legs in a slight waddle like walk.

The creature started to move on all fours now, picking up the pace of it's movement. Without even Otto knowing, it had managed to pull itself up onto the bench next to him. He kept playing with his eyes closed, humming the tune he played in total content with the music. The little creature also like the melody he was play, moving side to side cheerfully. It soon hopped up on the top of the piano, still with Otto's eyes closed, lost in his own little world. The creature was now standing on the top of piano, facing Otto with a happy little smile, leaning side to side as he kept playing. Only upon opening his eyes did Otto realize that he had another listener. He stopped playing, jolting back suddenly.

Standing on the piano was a small yellow Pokemon with a jagged tail that had brown strips on it's back. It's cheeks were red with it the tips of it's ears being black. It resembled somewhat rodent-like features, and frankly, looked adorable. It was clearly a Pikachu, having no alterations from what the games had depicted it looked like at all. Otto stared at it, seeing that it obviously had no ill intent, smiling at him.

"Where in the world did you come from?" Otto asked, not expecting an answer, nor would get one. The Pikachu just smiled back at him with it's ears moving slightly. It was so cute that Otto couldn't help but smile back at it. "Have you been listening to me play?"

The Pikachu nodded, not making a sound, only smiling. Otto cocked his head at it with a squinted look.

"I don't suppose you have any preference to what I play, do you?"

The Pikachu's ear's wiggled again.

"Pika Pika!" he responded happily with it's smile still prevailing. Otto laughed, wishing he could understand the Pokemon language.

"Unless that's a genre I've never heard of," Otto told him with a laugh, "then I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. How about I make something up? Sound good?"

The Pikachu nodded joyfully with Otto starting to play the piano. With a blues-like medley, the Pikachu swayed it's head side to side along with the groove.

"_Well, I ain't go no money; I ain't got a dime~"_ Otto sang as he played. _"I just wasted all my cash on some ladies, who looked so fine~ I got the bone broke blu-oo-oos~ Yes I do!~"_

The Pikachu's cheeks slightly glowed as it kept swaying it's head, enjoying Otto's playing and voice added to it.

_"They say it's rough all around, but I don't know-oh~ With my wallet bled dry I'm feeling real low-oh~ I got the bone broke blu-oo-oos~ you know it's true!~"_

The Pikachu start dancing on the piano, moving it's tail side to side.

"_Pi-Pi-Pika Pika~ Pi-eee-kachu-ooo~"_ it sang the same way Otto did. Otto couldn't help but laugh, still playing on the piano.

"Take it away." Otto told it encouragingly as it kept singing

"_Pika Pika chu-oooOOooo!~"_

Otto started playing a few last notes, ending the song strong with a heavy "dun-na-duh!" sound. Otto and the Pikachu laughed together with it's ears wiggling once more.

"You sound like you really like music." Otto told the Pikachu. It nodded cheerfully at him.

"Pikachu!" it told him sounding very confident.

"You're trainer probably gets to hear you sing all the time with a voice like that, don't they?" Otto laughed. The Pikachu though didn't laugh with him, lowing it's ears. Otto's smile turned upside into a frown. "You mean you don't have a trainer?" he asked surprised. It sadly shook it's head.

If that was the case, how on earth did it get it's way into the music room of the Pokemon center? Well, assuming it _was_ a place filled with trainers, it wouldn't be hard to believe a wild Pikachu happened to wander inside and made it's way through the place. Someone would probably just assume it was owned by someone.

Otto thought about it, frowning at the poor thing. There was a sudden rumble in the Pikachu's stomach with it grabbing onto it in pain. It's eyes clenched closed as it's stomach roared from being empty. Not only was it wild, but it was starving as well. Literally with the Pikachu standing right next to it, Otto looked at the Pokeball that was on the piano.

"You could probably use a good meal, huh?" Otto told it. "No to mention must be all alone in a big place like this."

The Pikachu nodded with a frown. Otto sighed, shaking his head.

"I know what it's like to go unnoticed too." he told the Pikachu. Otto looked at the Pokeball once again, then back at the Pikachu. "Would you consider having _me_ as a trainer?"

The Pikachu looked at Otto, tilting it's head to the side.

"Pika...chu?" it asked. Otto nodded.

"That's right," he told it. "I would be more than happy to be your trainer, assuming you'd be alright with that, of course."

The Pikachu stared at Otto, soon smiling with it's ears wiggling once again. It nodded it's head happily with it's cheeks slightly glowing.

"Pika Pika!" it chimed cheerfully. Otto grabbed the Pokeball resting on the piano, turning it around and looking at the small button on the back of it. Trying to remember how Matt said the Pokeballs worked, he pricked his finger on the little button and set the will meter on green. He looked at the Pikachu, pressing down the sides of it, manually opening it without having to throw it down. With the Pikachu glowing red, it was sucked into the Pokeball. With it not fighting him at all, the front turned white, with Otto successfully catching it.

Otto had caught an adorable Pikachu, being his first Pokemon!

He pressed the sides once again, releasing it. The red silhouette turned into the Pikachu from before with it cheerfully greeting him with a large, open mouthed smile. There joyous occasion was cut short with another loud growl coming from the Pikachu's empty stomach. Otto laughed, putting the Pokeball into his pant pocket with it bulging out.

"Let's get you something to eat." he chuckled, picking the Pikachu up with both hands. It's ears wiggled happily as it was carried out of the music room with Otto, who was headed now for the suite room to tell everyone the good news. And feed his new yellow friend as well, naturally.

"_**Charley**_?" Bomber chimed, adding to the list of possible names they could call the Nidoran that sat in Rachel's lap. She shook her head with Matt, Emie, Sissy, Bomber, Shade, and Laurence all sitting around the living room of the suite.

"Harold?" Laurence input.

"Nah." Rachel told him.

"Purple Cutey Face!" Emie said ecstatic. Rachel ignored that one.

"Fabio?" Shade asked, mostly joking. Bomber looked over at her.

"How about Kiss Me?" Bomber laughed. Shade let out a loud growl, glaring at him.

"For that last time," she told him angrily, "I was joking, dammit!"

Bomber raised an eyebrow (which looked strange considering his 'eyebrow' was actually just a few small feathers being a lighter color above his eye) at her.

"No need to be so aggressive, darling." Bomber joked. Shade rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms and looking in a different direction.

"Well excuse me for not being 'Shade the friendly ghost!'"

"Calm your tits, Shade." Rachel told her. "your yelling isn't helping my headache."

Laurence looked at her concerned for his mistresses well being.

"Headache, my Lady?"

"It just started a few minutes ago. I think it's because of having this guy out for so long. I don't know how Matt does it, he's got three Pokemon out all on green and I've only got one and I feel like my head is pounding."

Shade, who was ignoring her explanation, grabbed her breasts with her large shirt still covering her, and violently shook them.

"My tits will not be calm, dammit!" she raved. "Somebody tell this bird brain to quit flirting with me or else!"

"Or else what?" Bomber asked her. "You'll kiss me again?"

Shade threw her hands in the air, letting out a scream.

"Quit it already!" she demanded.

Matt looked at Rachel with Bomber, Sissy, and Emie all being on green like she said. Before when Matt would have them on all on green (being at a 1.5 point count.) he would feel a little pain in the head. But after a while, he'd gotten used to it. He didn't even hardly feel it anymore.

"Matt does seem to certainly seems to be strong willed." Laurence told Rachel. "It's an inner drive I haven't seen in years."

Rachel scoffed at Laurence's observations, shaking her head.

"Maybe it's just 'cause he's got nothing rattling upstairs that can be hurt in the first place." she insulted with a laugh. Matt just rolled his eyes, ignoring her. The sound of Doug and Darrell's room door opening was heard with Darrell exiting. Doug had already gone to bed. Rachel turned her head as she sat on the couch, seeing him look at them all. She smiled to see him. Laurence however did not.

"Hey, sharp shooter." Rachel joked. "How's it hanging?"

Darrell just shrugged, feeling like he had something to get off of his chest. It wasn't like he could just tell them he used to make a living killing people, especially by doing so with Team Rocket.

"Okay, I guess." he told him sounding unsure.

"That was some incredible marksmanship you had today." Matt told him. "Without you helping us, and taking a shot at the Nidoran when it was still a Nidoking, we all might not be here to thank you."

"I was unaware you even _owned_ a gun." Bomber told him with Shade still grumbling to herself as she sat on the floor near the couch. Laurence just glared at Darrell, who put his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but..." Darrell stopped himself, thinking about his next choice of words. "I have a little experience in combat..."

Laurence started laughing spitefully, making everyone confused as to what was so funny. Looking at Darrell dead in the eyes, Laurence's stare was cold.

"That's like saying I _may_ have killed people when I was still alive."

Everyone remained quiet, watching as Laurence stood behind the couch like he had been previously doing, eying down Darrell. None of them said anything for a while.

"Tell me,"Laurence said to him. "how long do you intend to keep this act afloat?"

Darrell just stared at him, not saying a word. Everyone could feel a sudden tension in the air.

"_You're a hypocrite_." Darrell told him, suddenly speaking in Japanese. Team Rocket required this from all of their higher up members, reminding them the importance of their roots. Darrell didn't expect Laurence to smile back at him.

"_How long do you think it will take them to realize your past?"_ Laurence responded, speaking in flawless Japanese as well. He'd grown up his entire life speaking the language. Finding more common ground than just both being killers, the two of them learned that one another spoke the language.

"_How long do you think it will take them to realize yours?"_ Darrell rebuttaled, leaving everyone completely confused as to what they were saying. Laurence only chuckled, with neither one of them moving an inch from when they had both started speaking.

_"You know nothing about what I've done in my past."_ Laurence told him harshly. Darrell narrowed his gaze back at him.

"_You don't know anything about mine, either."_ Darrell told him, finally turning around and heading back to his and Doug's room. He closed the door behind him with Laurence not saying a single word as he left. Everyone was looking at Laurence funny.

"What the hell was that about?" Rachel asked him.

"Laur_ie_ and Darrell were using funny sounding words..." Emie said speculatively. Laurence looked over his shoulder in the direction of his mistress, smiling at her puzzlement.

"Nothing of importance, my Lady."

While that had been going on, Bomber was edging his way to Shade, who pretended like she didn't notice him.

"Why do you have to be so grumpy, sweetheart?" Bomber teased. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

Shade snapped her neck towards him, suddenly turning transparent.

"I'll show you what I want!" she yelled, flying into his body. Bomber stumbled backwards with his eyes turning orange. With Shade forcefully taking control of his body, she made him smack himself with his own wings.

"Ow!" Bomber kept saying after every hit.

"This is what you get for acting like a jackass!" she told him. Emie watched his horrified, not understanding what was going on. With her limited reasoning skills, the only explanation she could come to was that Bomber had ate Shade. She leap from the couch, grappling onto Bombers front and pulled.

"No!" she cried. "DON'T EAT SHADE-SHADE! NOT AGAIN!"

Matt let out a sigh along with Sissy, who was sitting next to him on the couch, watching this."

"What a team..." Matt said jokingly. Sissy looked over at him with a faint smile.

"A least _I_ don't cause you as much stress as they do."

Matt looked at her with a smug smile and raised brow. She returned his expression with her ears folding back and her lowering her head.

"Not often, I mean..."

Matt shook his head at her, soon with Sissy sighing again.

"Fine..." she admitted sounding saddened. "I cause you a lot of heartache..."

She felt Matt put his arm around her.

"But I love you anyway for it." he told her with a smile. She shyly smiled back at him as Shade kept bitch slapping Bomber in the face with his own wings, Emie was now straddled on his back with her arms around his neck, begging him to spit her out.

"Take it!" Shade yelled using Bomber's body to speak.

"I'm sorry!" Bomber pleaded with her. "I'll stop teasing you!"

He fell on his face with Shade exiting his body. Emie fell off with an "umpf," landing on her back as she tumbled off of him. With his head lying on the side of the floor, Bomber looked up at Shade in pain.

"Good." Shade told him crossing her arms. Her stern frown faded as soon as she realized how hard she had been hitting Bomber, worried that she'd over done it a little. "I...didn't hurt you too much, did I?"

"I'm fine..." Bomber wheezed Shade sighed, sitting down next to him as he laid there on his front in pain.

"Sorry..." she apologized, stroking the back of his neck. Emie laid on her back, blinking at the ceiling, not sure what had just happened.

The front door opened with Otto entering. Matt and Rachel saw the Pikachu in his arms, watching as he made his way over to the kitchen, acting like none of them were even in the room. They all watched, even Bomber as he laid on the floor, as he set the Pikachu on the counter, opening the fridge as it sat patently beside him.

"Let's see," Otto said to himself as everyone watched him search through the refrigerator. "we've got some eggs, milk, oh, here's some cake." He pulled out a piece of cake already on a plate, which they had all gotten a few days ago. With only a piece left, he set it down beside the Pikachu. It wasted no time, digging into the chocolate wonderfulness with it's little paws, stuffing it's face. It's cheeks turned red with delight.

Matt stood up from the couch, walking over to the kitchen area as Otto kept digging through the fridge. He stood there beside him with the Pikachu looking at Matt. It waved at Matt with it's little paw lovably with it being so cute that Matt got a smirk out of it. He lifted his hand up, motioning his fingers up and down as if to give a small wave back. Rachel joined Matt's side, wondering what was up. In her hands was the Nidoran.

It looked at the Pikachu, suddenly smiling.

"Nido!" It said happily.

"Pika_chu_!" the Pikachu responded with a happy squeak.

"Sweet baby Jesus," Rachel said soon smiling. "That's fucking adorable."

Otto raised his head from the fridge while the Pikachu kept filling it's face, getting frosting on it's fur.

"Oh," he said as if surprised. "hey guys. Sorry, I got a little caught up with needing to find some food for my new Pokemon."

Matt looked at Rachel, with the Nidoran still happily smiling at the Pikachu. It wiggled it's large ears with the Pikachu doing the same as if to mimic it.

"You caught it?" Matt said amazed. "Where did you find it."

"It was downstairs in one of the rooms of the Pokemon center." Otto explained. "I came up to me when I was playing piano. After a little bit of playing, I asked if it wanted me to be it's trainer."

"That's really strange." Matt said seriously as Otto went back to rummaging through the refrigerator.

"You were playing piano?" Rachel said even more surprised. Otto nodded his head, still with it in the fridge.

"Yeah," he told her, "I was downstairs in the music room playing with a guy- oh, that reminds me!"

He looked up from the refrigerator, with the crew in the living room talking amongst themselves. Shade was still petting the back of Bomber's neck with Emie prodding at his beak with her finger to ask if he were okay. Sissy and Laurence were exchanging small conversation.

"Yeah?" Matt responded.

"The guy I met said he knows you." Otto explained. "He said he needed to meet you again and finish some business or something."

"Really?" Matt said surprised. "What was his name?"

"I think it was Gavin." Otto told him.

Matt's blood ran cold as everyone around him knew nothing of Gavin's name. Even after there run in, nobody had actually got Gavin's name, or paid attention long enough to hear it, except Matt. Rachel thought about the name, with it not ringing any bells.

"Gavin?" she said confused, still holding her Nidoran. "I don't remember anyone with that name.

Matt forced himself to act naturally. Showing fear wasn't going to help.

"He's just somebody I met in Viridian." Matt told them. "Otto, can you distinctly remember anything else he said?"

Otto thought about it, shrugging.

"He made a joke about fighting to the death or something stupid like that." Otto told him with a laugh.

Matt felt his pulse raise with Rachel looking disgusted.

"What kind of sick joke is that?" She asked him. Otto just rolled his eyes at her.

"It was just a joke." he told her. Matt looked at Otto, hiding his adrenaline rush with his eyes dilating.

"Where you last see him?" Matt asked sounding rushed. Otto looked at him funny.

"Downstairs near the music room, like I said." Otto told him. "It's funny actually, I didn't even realize they _had_ a-"

Matt quickly turned around and made his way for the door with brisked steps.

"-room?" Otto finished confused.

"I'll be back later." Matt told him. "I need to see if I can find him."

Rachel looked at the clock on the stove. It was getting close to eleven at night.

"Can't it wait?" she asked him, not understanding why he was in such as rush. Matt exited out the suite door with determination on finding Gavin. He couldn't explain why, but he knew he had to face him alone, assuming he could even find him. Matt wasn't willing the risk getting his friends hurt over a personal matter like that. He was making the choice to face him alone, even if it were potentially unwise.

"I guess not." Rachel said with a frown. She looked back over to the Pikachu as if ate the chocolate cake. "So is it a boy or a girl?"

Otto shrugged, watching it eat the cake messily.

"I don't know." he told her with a shrug. At that moment, Rachel cocked her head, lowering it so she could see between the legs of it, focusing hard enough to see what was behind it's fur conversing it.

"Well," she said, "considering most boys don't have a vagina..."

Otto looked at her almost disturbed that she'd do something as blunt as to stare at his Pikachu's privates like that. He shook his head.

"I guess it's a girl then." he said, pushing his glasses up against the bridge of his nose.

"Any ideas for a name?" she asked. "I'm still racking my brain trying to think of a name for my Nidoran."

The Nidoran's ears wiggled happily as it cooed next to it's 'mothers' chest, still being held in her arms.

Otto stared at the Pikachu, suddenly with a small grin showing.

"Clara." he said.

Rachel looked at him, soon nodding in approval as the Pikachu finished off the cake.

"Clara, huh?" she said. "I like it. It sounds cute."

The Pikachu looked at Otto as he smiled back at her.

"How about it?" he asked her. "Does Clara sound like a good name?"

The Pikachu grinned with it's cheeks glowing slightly red again with joy, shining through the cake on her cute little face.

"Pikachu!" she said enthusiastically.

Little Clara joyfully stared back at her trainer, unaware of the adventures that her and Otto would have in the future, and yet was fully content with the present. As well as the cake she had just gobbled down that was now in her filled belly.


	48. Chapter 48 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 48  
**_(**Kane and Clara)**

As Kane finished reading the chapter to Clara, he slowly closed the book, staring at the blank cover of the tome. The silence was painful for him to bare as he sat in his leather chair, almost afraid to look up at Clara. She sat in the chair facing his with her mouth partially agape with a lost look in her eye. It was all flooding back to her. She had been sleeping in the music room of the Pokemon center when she had heard music being played. Clara could now remember parts of the beginning of the tune she had sang with the young man in green wearing glasses. A tear rolled down her darkened yellow fur.

"I'm starting to remember now..." she said aloud with only a small fragment of her hidden past coming back to her. Kane looked up at her finally, letting out a sigh while standing up. He set the book down on the arm of his chair as he walked over to the large bookshelf in the room. On the bottom shelf was a large box, which Clara had always been curious about, though due to her shyness, never asked about it's continents.

He pulled out the box, bringing it over to his desk and setting it down with a heavy thud. Kane motioned for her to stand and come over to him as he reached inside with his other hand. She obeyed, watching him pull out manilla folders, all of which were very thick. Now standing in front of him as he leaned against his desk with the folders in hand, he acknowledged her attention with a seriousness she had seen more than once.

"Everyone has a story, Clara." he told her. He tossed down on of the folders, having the name "Matt" written on it with black marker. "Some have painful pasts and are forced to be stronger than they normally think they can be as everyone around them creates expectations that they're the leader. They're told that they're the strongest, but ironically, they tend to be more mortal than they other realize."

Kane tossed down another folder with the name "Otto" on it.

"Some strive to stand out when they've been pushed into the shadows of everyone else's lives. They might spend they're entire existence trying to prove themselves to be worth noticing and to be loved, trying to find anyone who will listen with open ears and open hearts."

Tossing down another folder, the name "Rachel" was written on the front of it.

"Some try to stand higher than others, trying to make them believe they are superior. Internally, however, feel worthless and flawed, being lower than the rest."

Another folder was tossed down with "Sissy" on it.

"Some are fueled by hatred and anger, unleashing fury to those who stand in their way, even the ones who are closest to them. Pain and regret are all they know, having difficultly showing affection and love."

The last folder in Kane's hand, with a plethora of others still in the large box, landed on the small pile that had been formed. "Emie" was written on it.

"Some are fueled by love and naïve affection, doing the only thing they were taught, regardless of the misuse and abuse they received in the past."

Kane looked back at Clara as he leaned against the desk still.

"We all have stories, Clara." he told her. "I have a file on all of the characters involved with the events I recorded. Including you."

Clara looked at Kane with a mixture of confusion and sadness.

"Then...why not tell me who I am?" she asked him seriously. Kane chuckled, grabbing for the deck of cards near an empty coffee mug. He began to shuffle them to keep his hands busy, keeping eye contact with her the entire time he did so.

"You can't simply just tell someone who a person is, really." Kane told her. "You have to _show_ them; make them believe it. If I were to say that someone was a bad person, you might have your doubts, questioning why such an accusation was placed on them in the first place. However, if I told you about how said person murdered an innocent man, you would naturally come to you own conclusions. No...perhaps I should use a different example."

Kane kept shuffling the cards as he spoke, closing his eyes to think of a good example.

"Suppose I told you of a man, saying that he was caring. You'd be forced either believe or doubt me, simply on my word. However, if I were to _show_ you his actions, explaining how he once helped a man, though was paid to do so, you might have mixed feelings. Was he doing it more out of the kindness of his heart or for the money? By reading to you what had happened in the past, you will come to your own beliefs, Clara, even about yourself. _That_ is why I can't show you the laundry list of traits, attributes, and other things about you, in fear you may simply believe them blindly or reject them without a second thought. Does this make any sense to you?"

Clara thought about it, soon nodding her head with Kane opening his eyes finally to see the wheels in her head turning. Kane set the deck of cards down, reaching for the folders, putting them them back in the box one by one. While doing so, and by complete accident, he realized the two remaining ones were Sissy's and Matt's, both resting beside each other. He couldn't help but smile.

"Another example might be to say that you love someone," he told Clara, still smiling at Sissy and Matt's folders resting side by side with one another. "To say it is one thing, but to honestly show it is another..."


	49. Chapter 49

_**Chapter 49**_

_**Matt**_ pressed the first floor button of the elevator with the doors closing after him. Shutting his eyes to the sound of the elevator making a ding, he leaned back against the metal wall. His heart was starting to race with the possible outcomes of things that could happen, invading his already troubled mind. Most of them were impossible, though some held weight in probability. Was he stupid for going alone to look for Gavin? Most likely, he told himself, but he'd rather get himself killed instead of any of his friends. It was a risk that he felt was worth taking, even if it did put his life in danger.

Descending to the first floor, he was experiencing a twisting feeling in his gut. He felt watched as if Gavin knew where he currently was, and where he would be. It was a ridiculous feeling created by paranoia and Matt knew it. Chances were he wouldn't be able to even come close to finding him. He'd most likely have vanished by then, merely wanting to shake Matt up a bit. It certainly had worked to say the least.

The doors opened on Matt with the first thing he saw being a man leaned up against the wall outside the near the elevator. He was wearing a black hoodie, cargo pants, and black and white sneakers. His hair was red and spiked with his dark eyes almost looking happy to see him. Gavin's arms were leisurely crossed with a single foot planted behind him against the wall. He stared back at Matt, who's blood instantly ran cold. It was as if he were expecting him.

"I thought you'd show up." Gavin told him with a smile. He pushed himself off the wall lazily as Matt boldly took a few steps forward, exiting the elevator with it closing behind him. The option of running back inside the elevator, though he'd never take it, was now gone. Even so, having options never hurt. Especially when your life was is potentially on the line.

"It's been a while." Matt told him bravely, not showing the fear in his heart. Gavin cheerfully smiled back at him, as if they were old friends reuniting. He took a step to his right, making his way towards the lobby of the Pokemon center. He stopped when he saw Matt only staring at him.

"Let's walk, shall we?" Gavin said surprisingly calm considering their previous standings between each other. For someone Matt had stabbed in the shoulder and practically fought to the death with he sure seemed mellow about meeting again. Forcing himself to go with the flow, Matt followed Gavin, soon walking side by side with him. To play if safe, he walked on his left side, being away from Widow Maker on Gavin's right hand side.

The two of them made it into the Pokemon center lobby with Gavin and Matt making their way past the front desk. The lady working there was someone Matt hadn't met before, and frankly, could care less about what she even looked like. He was more focused on Gavin's movements, readying himself for a fight at any given time. To his surprise, Gavin's guard was completely down. He had his hands in his pockets, acting like the the two of them were on a friendly walk.

"I saw you on the news today." Gavin told him. "By now you're probably popular. First you took out my gang, now you and your friends dealt with a stardust crisis. Talk about heroic."

The two of them headed for the front doors, with Matt seeing through the glass that it was still heavily raining. Gavin slowly reached up for his hood, putting it over him as they exited the building. Matt moved his hat around with the bill of it facing forward to block the rain from hitting his face, zipping his crimson jacket up all the way.

"What is it that you want?" Matt asked him, feeling a little stupid for asking such a question. Gavin simply kept smiling as the two of them headed down a muddy street of Pewter city.

"Naturally I want to challenge you," Gavin responded. "but not because I want revenge or anything like that."

Matt thought about what he had just said with both of them walking side by side still. The rain was heard hitting his hat, making a strange "_thap_" sound with each droplet hitting against it. It was dark out with only a few lanterns on the sides of the streets that were hung on the buildings illuminating the darkness surrounding them.

"Then why bother challenging me if you don't want revenge?" Matt asked, trying to hide how confused he was by this concept. Gavin let out a single laugh, being both a somewhat modest one yet at the same time a little cocky.

"I sorta feel like our fight never really ended, you know?" Gavin said to him as they kept walking. "It was only delayed. Sure, I'll admit you really handed me my ass the first time, but that was only round one. I want to prove I'm better than you. Plain and simple."

"So killing me will prove you're better than I am?" Matt inquired. Gavin thought about it for a moment, then nodded, still with his hands in his pockets as they strolled causally down the street.

"Yeah," Gavin said honestly, "that pretty much sums it up, I guess."

"Would you be happy if I told you that you were better and end it there?" Matt asked him. Gavin turned his head towards Matt, who in return kept his focus on the street ahead of them.

"Where's the fun in that?" Gavin asked him completely sounding serious. "Besides, I want to know for a fact that I'm better than you are. Don't get me wrong, I hold you in the highest respects for kicking my ass back in Viridian, but I'm afraid I'm just going to have to kill you one on one."

Matt felt a tingle go up his spine.

"What if I say no?" Matt asked, still not looking at Gavin.

"You seem really fond of the Growlithe of yours." Gavin told him. "You came for her in Viridian and you were there for her today in Pewter. Please don't make me have to kill her to upset you enough so you'll fight back."

Matt stopped in his tracks, tensing up as Gavin stopped with him.

"So there's no avoiding this?" Matt asked him. "There's no other way we can settle this?"

Gavin shrugged, acting as if he felt sympathetic for Matt.

"I'm afraid not, buddy." he admitted.

The two of them just stood there in the rain, watching as a random person walked past them in a hurry, covering there head from the rain as they rushed by. Matt glanced around, seeing a small handful of people outside of their homes, sitting under their awnings. Matt spotted a little boy playing with what must have been his brother, play fighting each other with wooden sticks as if they were warriors locked in battle.

"We can't finish this here." Matt told him. "There's too many people."

Gavin grinned, as if having a solution for the problem already.

"Follow me." he told him. Gavin led the way, making a turn down another street as Matt took one last look at the kids play fighting with one another. Never in his life he had wished so much to be a kid again with all of the simplicity such entitlement had attached with it.

_**With**_ the rain still coming down as hard as it could, Gavin and Matt had made there way through the city, finally making it to what appeared to be an abandoned building. Being different than the others with a flat roof instead of a pointed and slanted one, they one by one climbed up onto it by using a later that had been left out, presumably by Gavin. Had he planned this out already?

Matt made it up to the roof after him, seeing Gavin on the other side with his back turned to him. He was staring out at the other rooftops, seeing small glimpses of the people that resided in the homes, sitting outside with crossed legs under their awnings, whether it be to socialize or to simply listen to the rain in the late hour of the night. Now with his feet stepping off the latter and onto the roof, he heard Gavin let out a sad sigh.

"You and I are different from everyone else." Gavin told him out of the blue, sounding suddenly deep and sincere. "We're both men of action; we're driven to achieve what we want. No matter what."

Matt stood there in the rain as Gavin continued to stand with his back facing him.

"The only thing that's different is what motivates us." Gavin added. "I guess I'm motivated by wanting to prove I'm the strongest there is. I know that might sound a little cliché, but at least I'm honest about it."

He suddenly turned around, looking Matt in the eye. They looked so hollow.

"Can I ask what motivates you?" Gavin asked him. Matt stood there with a straight face.

The image of Sissy was the first thing to come to his mind, holding onto her as she was dying earlier that day.

"I guess to protect those I love." Matt told him honestly. He looked down at the empty rooftop, suddenly with his image turning sour, wondering what it would have been like if she had died. "My entire life I've managed to fuck things up. I've made some shitty choices and been handed the shortest stick more than once. I guess I just want to make sure nothing bad ever happens to the people I love, because I know how cruel and unforgiving life can be."

Gavin smiled at Matt, grabbing the bottom of his hoodie. He pulled it off, tossing it to the roof flooring. He had was shirtless underneath, showing his abdominal muscles. They looked slightly buffer than Matt's. He grabbed his knife from his side, tossing it down with his hoodie as if to show he had no intention on using it.

"That's very noble." Gavin told him. "I feel guilty that I have to kill you."

Matt reached up for his hat, taking it off and tossing it onto the roof that was already wet with the rain. Unzipping his jacket, he tossed it next to his hat, now with only his white shirt on his chest. Both him and Gavin raised their fists, standing their ground with one another. It didn't take long for Matt's shirt to get soaked, with his skin showing through as it stuck to his body.

"I really don't want to fight you." Matt told him. "but I know I have to..."

Gavin's lost look in his eye returned, as if hearing his own thoughts being projected through Matt. He tensed up, suddenly charging at him with Matt doing the same.

Gavin threw a punch with Matt blocking it, putting his arms up to defend himself. Another blow was thrown, missing Matt as he pivoted his stance to the left. In mid foot movement, Matt took a jab at Gavin, getting him square in the jaw. The hit wasn't strong enough to knock him back, but left a mark on his face as the rain kept coming down on both of them.

Matt jumped backwards as Gavin attempted to do a low kick, watching as Matt hopped up and down with his feet adjusting marginally with every small hop he made. His fists were raised, having the eye of the tiger as Gavin lunged a right punch towards him. Gavin's hit was pushed out of the way in mid action with Matt's left hand, followed by an upper cut to Gavin's gut with his right. Gavin let out a grunt of pain, but was still completely balanced on his two feet.

A suddenly leap was made by Gavin, kneeing Matt in the throat after quickly grabbing him by the wrists and pulling him into the hit. Matt stumbled to his side with Gavin letting go with Matt gripping his throat with one hand, unable to breath momentarily. Gavin had no intention on cutting him a break, preforming a backwards roundhouse kick, getting Matt in the left side. Matt bared his teeth, showing just how painful the kick had been. With his guard still down, Matt was punched square in the face, falling backwards and landing flat on his spine with whatever remaining air left in his lungs escaping.

The rain hitting his face felt ice cold as he sharply inhaled after a moment of painfully lying on his back. Gavin stood his ground, watching Matt roll over backwards onto his feet. He stood up with blood from his nose running down his face. With the back of his hand, he wiped it away, quickly getting back into a fighting stance.

Gavin threw a quick jab at Matt, who blocked it with an open hand. In retaliation, he lobbed one of his own, getting Gavin in the upper torso. It didn't appear to hurt him very much considering Gavin took another swing at Matt right after his punch. Matt ducked as Gavin's fist flew overhead. Matt did a low kick while crouched, watching Gavin jumped backwards away from it.

Matt jumped back up to a normal stance, holding both fists close to him. Gavin motioned his hand as if to taunt him, making Matt narrow his eyes. Jolting forward, Matt punched Gavin as hard as he could with his left fist, getting him in the right shoulder, followed by a second punch with his right hand directed toward Gavin's stomach, hitting his mark without Gavin able to defend himself in time.

Gavin hunched over slightly from Matt's stomach punch with his head lowered. He raised his head up, only to have Matt's knuckles cracking into the side of his face. Blood flung from Gavin's mouth, flying through the air and intermixing with the heavy rain. As Gavin's head thrashed to the side, Matt did an uppercut with his other fist, being his left, redirecting Gavin's head to fling backwards now. Another punch was made by Matt, having it literally grabbed by Gavin, glaring at Matt with rage in his eyes.

With his hand still gripped around Matt's fist, Gavin began to relentlessly pound the side of his face as Matt helplessly took the blows, unable to stop them. Punch after punch, hit after hit, Matt's vision started to blur the more Gavin bashed his fist into him. The rain hitting his skin was starting to loose it's feeling.

In an act of desperation, Matt forced himself onto Gavin, shoving him down on the roof. Freeing his hand finally, Matt started whaling on Gavin as he sat on top of him. He struck Gavin in the face multiple time, every now and them getting him in the chest with Gavin letting out a grunt of pain after each contact against his bare chest. Matt's punches were starting to actually break skin, making Gavin's body start to bleed in certain places.

Gavin finally threw Matt off of him, doing a roll to the side and getting on his feet again with his hands planted firmly on the roof for stability. Trying to do the same thing Matt had done to him, he jumped towards Matt who now lay on his back again from being thrown off. Matt's foot darted upwards, kicking Gavin back. Hard. So hard in fact he left a bruise where his shoe had hit him.

Matt got back up on his feet as both of them were panting with their fists raised. He spit blood out of his mouth, watching as Gavin did the same, holding their ground while at the same time momentarily resting from their brutal fight against each other. It wouldn't last long.

Their fight raged on with Gavin jumping up and kicking towards Matt. He missed with Matt taking the opportunity to slip through his guard, hitting him in the chest even more with a fury of blows. One after another, Matt smashed against Gavin's chest, bleeding even more now with the fear of Sissy dying fueling Matt's fight. Gavin stopped him after the fourth blow by open hand slapping him across the face, so hard in fact it made Matt trip backwards.

Gavin began to return the favor as Matt was stunned, unleashing hell on him with an ungodly amount of force being put into one punch. With the muscles in his arms flexing, his fist plowed into the center of his body, barely bellow the rip cage. Matt's mouth opened to yell in pain, yet nothing came out as he was lifted a few good off the the ground from the impact. He was completely numb to the ice cold rain now that had drenched his hair and shirt, receiving another punch to the face from Gavin.

He forced himself to stay on his feet, though his balance felt off. Matt's brain was rattled from all the hits he had taken. Not sure how it had suddenly happened, he found himself on his back again with Gavin on top of him, punching his body unforgivably. There was a burning feeling in Matt's chest with his arms starting to go numb.

Matt's knuckles were met with Gavin's face again, punching him off of him. They two of them scurried to their feet, taking punches from each other as their fight continued. Matt was starting to loose focus of what was happening. One second he'd be getting hit by Gavin then the next he'd be hitting Gavin right back. This cycle of things continued, finally with Gavin being the one who's knees started wobbling.

Gavin couldn't keep his eyes open, though managed to stay on his feet. With all the strength Matt had left in his body, he pulled his left fist downward, tensing it up so hard it shook. He shot it upwards, with a popping noise coming from Gavin's neck. Matt watched as Gavin hit the rooftop, landing painfully on his side.

He didn't move for a while.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, painfully getting up from the wet rooftop. He and Matt stared at each other as they were both bloodied and covered in marks, soon with him showing a painful smile. There was blood in his teeth. Gavin painfully turned, limping over to his hoodie, grabbing his knife that rested on top of it. He turned his head towards Matt with his back still facing him.

"Consider this another delay." Gavin told him. Taking Matt by surprise, he slid the knife in his pocket, quickly hobbling over to the edge of the building. Getting one last look at him before he walked off the edge, Gavin smiled. "I'll see you around, Matt."

Gavin fell off the roof with Matt's eyes widening. He painfully walked over to the edge, walking past Gavin's hoodie that he left behind. Looking over the ledge of the roof, he saw nothing but the street below.

He was gone.

_**Making**_ his was back to the suite was a bit of a blur do focusing mostly on the pain he was experiencing. It was nearing one in the morning when he drug his feet into the Pokemon center. His hat and jacket were put back on, completely soaked in rain water. Nobody was in the lobby of the Pokemon center in exception for the nurse at the desk, being yet again being the same person Matt didn't know. She was working at the computer, glancing up to see Matt's beaten up state, freezing in shock as he limped his way towards the direction of the hall where the elevator was. The entire time he drug his feet towards the elevator, he thought about the image of Sissy that had come to mind when fighting with Gavin.

The past few days she'd been so miserable because of him, even though he was ironically trying to make her feel better by not choosing either Emie or her to be fair to both of them. She'd avoided him and sulked, even more so when he was around her. Even if they were on an understanding of being open with each other, how long would it last before she grew miserable again? How long would it really be until she couldn't control how she felt, reverting back to her old self?

Matt made his way upstairs, making his way through the upper floor towards the suite. He slid his key through the door, entering inside to find the TV still on. Matt was in such a condition that he was unphased by seeing porn of a male Raticate in it's anthropomorphic form with a human woman, both getting it on with each other shamelessly. In addition to the porn on screen, both Emie and Shade were cuddle up next to each other on the couch, covered by a large blanket that they shared, soundlessly asleep with smiles on their faces.

Total contentment was all over Emie's face. She was happy, yet was in the same situation Sissy was in. Matt glanced over at Shade as they were in their sex induced slumber. At least Emie had someone, even if it wasn't necessarily the most romantic of situations. Sissy on the other hand was going to continue to be miserable.

Matt just stood there, thinking about it all. Maybe it was from how hard Gavin had beaten him around that made him think about the ridiculous love triangle that _he_ himself had created due to pure stupidity and selfishness. A wave of guilt overcame him. At least Emie was able to cope.

He entered his suite room, with the first thing he noticed was Sissy laying on his bed in her anthropomorphic form, still dressed in her yukata. It looked like she had accidentally fell asleep without meaning to, waiting for him to get back from wherever it was he had to go so suddenly. Bomber's Pokeball was in the corner of the room, presumably with him in it. Matt was glad everyone was asleep. That way they wouldn't have to know what happened.

Quietly making his way to the bathroom, Matt flicked on the light switch with the door cracked open. He stared at the wide mirror on the wall, seeing just how bloody his face really was. Countless ideas ran through his head after turning on the water in the sink. Maybe he could tell people he tripped and fell face first. Multiple times. Hard. Very hard.

The thought of what Gavin had said was now burned in his mind. Every time he'd image Sissy hurt or even dead, he'd force himself to stop thinking about it. It was the scariest thing he could think out. Realization stuck him, repeating what he had just thought. Losing Sissy was the scariest thing to him, yet he was now just starting to notice this? Matt began to recall ever time Sissy was in danger.

There was the time with his Raticate when it was still wild, nearly killing her and would have if Matt didn't risk his life to save her, carrying Sissy all the way to the Pokemon center afterward. Then there was the time when Gavin had kidnapped her, making him go all out, refusing to stop fighting until she was safe. He'd even torn himself off a chair he was nailed into, not just for his friends, but in fear of her safety as well. Today even, he willing forfeit the match him and Jimmy had held, not wanting to see her suffer any longer. Even when she was stuck down after the Nidoran, when it was still a Nidoking, went on it's rampage, he panicked as he held her. The entire time he was more worried about her life than his own, risking it once again to heal her.

Perhaps it was the beating that made him start to notice all of this. He had never really taken the time to realize just how much Sissy meant to him, which made him feel like an idiot. She was the main reason he wasn't going back home, keeping the promise he made to her about never abandoning her. Matt turned on the sink, started washing the blood of his face as well as letting out a sigh.

"Matt?" he heard Sissy's softly voice call to him. He suddenly froze while still hunched over the sink. Sissy pushed the bathroom door open all the way, seeing Matt standing there. He wore wet clothes and appeared to have been beaten senselessly. Sissy stared at him, seeing Matt look over to her with some of the blood now washed off of him. He frowned with her looking at him horrified. "What happened?..." she asked sounding petrified.

"I got into a fight..." Matt told her, coming clean. As painful as it was to do, he began to explain to her that her former captor was waiting for him downstairs. Even though he didn't want to fight, Matt explained to Sissy that he had no other choice. Not withholding any information, he told her everything that was said and done, starting to regret it the longer she remained in silence.

"I'm sorry," he told, worried she was going to be upset. "I know I should have gotten help or at least told you what was going on, but I didn't want to risk having any of you get involved in it. Especially you."

Silence.

"I'll understand if you're mad at me." Matt told her, lowering his head in the direction of the mirror. The feeling of arms wrapping around him made his heart jump, fearing the worst. He turned to look, seeing Sissy hugging onto him. She was holding back from getting emotional, though refused to let go of him. Even the thought of him dying was too much to handle.

"Please don't ever do something stupid like that again..." she told him with a trembling in her voice. Matt said nothing, only watching her as she held onto him. Sissy finally looked up at him, seeing a hurt look in her eye.

"And don't act like you didn't see Emie and Shade out there." she told him suddenly. "I could hear everything that was going on."

Matt looked at her ears. With her adept hearing, he didn't doubt it.

"You can't expect me to just accept that she can do whatever the hell she wants with whoever the hell she wants for things to be still 'fair', do you?"

Matt didn't say anything, just looking back at her with sad eyes. Sissy drew closer to him, moving her face inch by inch towards his. She stopped with her small muzzle near his face, glancing shyly to the mirror.

"I know you were serious about what you said today about just being friends for now." Sissy told him She suddenly made eye contact once again, kissing him on the lips, but only for a second. Matt didn't know how to react, getting wide eyed with Sissy growing even shyer. "But I love you and I refuse to not be with you. I don't care what you told me before, you're mine..."

Matt blinked, seeing that Sissy was too shy to even make eye contact with him.

"And don't you dare say it's not fair to Emie." She told him sounding hurt, still not looking at him. "Her and Shade seem to be getting along just fine. Besides, I met you first."

Matt smirked at her, soon starting to chuckle.

"If you recall," he reminded her, "you wanted nothing to do with me when we first met."

She finally turned to face and scowl at him as he smiled back at her. Strangely, she looked like she was getting shy once more.

"That's not true..." she told him with her voice getting quieter and her ears slightly folding back. "I've always found you...attractive..."

Matt thought he had misheard her.

"Really?..." he said taken for a loop. "I thought you hated everything about me when we first met."

Sissy shyly furrowed her brow, getting a few hues redder behind her dark orange fur.

"That doesn't mean you still weren't attractive..." she admitted. Sissy forced herself to look at him dead in the eye, still with her arms wrapped around him.

"I done playing these stupid love games!" she told him, forcing herself to be mad even though she feared Matt's reaction. "You and I are dating from now on, dammit! I don't care what you say, I-"

"Okay." Matt said, making Sissy stop dead in her tracks. She just stared at him, not expecting him to actually give her a straight forward answer. Quite literally, she expected him to avoid choosing between her and Emie like he always had done in the past.

"W-what?..."

"I said okay." Matt repeated seriously. "You're right. You did technically meet me first and Emie seems to be content with Shade. Although I can't expect her to take this news well, she'll just have to accept it. I've already put you through enough as it is and frankly I don't really deserve you. If you're still willing to be with me after the crap I've put you though, then-"

Matt stopped talking, seeing that Sissy was starting to cry with a stunned look on her face. With tears in her eyes, she kissed Matt again. She pulled back with the biggest smile he'd ever seen before.

"You're not joking or teasing, are you?" Sissy asked, as if this were too good to be true. Matt shook his head.

"I wouldn't joke about that." he told her. Matt started thinking about something. "I guess this means I'm gonna have to cancel that date with Amber tomorrow. Considering I have a girlfriend now."

He winked at her, with the word 'girlfriend' making Sissy start to tear up even more. She actually started to laugh, a little hysterical from all of this happening so suddenly.

"I can't believe you said okay..." Sissy said in disbelief. Matt smiled at her, putting his hand on the side of her face.

"You know," he told her, "you're much more beautiful when you're not angry."

That made her laugh even more with another tear of joy running down her face.

"I'll keep that in mind...boyfriend..."

The word sounded so foreign to her. She looked at his wet clothes, with her smile slowly fading. "As your...girlfriend... I need you to get out of your clothes."

Matt raised his eyebrow at her with a smug smile.

"And I thought_ I_ was too fast about things." he joked. She playfully glared at him.

"That's not what I meant, stupid." she told him sounding genuinely happy regardless. "You're soaking wet. Come on, off with your clothes. I don't want you getting sick after getting the crap beat out of you."

Matt shrugged, starting to take off his jacket, followed by his hat, then his shirt, and so on. After stripping down to his blue boxers with his clothes in a pile on the floor, he patted the side of his underwear, feeling that they were just as wet as the rest of his clothes somehow. He glanced up at Sissy, seeing her flush slightly red when he dropped his boxers to the floor. The moment they did she quickly turned her head blushing immensely. Matt laughed at her, grabbing her arm and moving it towards him. She was speechless when he moved her hands towards his privates.

"It's not like you've never seen me naked before." he joked. She awkwardly had her hands still near his crotch, not sure if she should keep it there or quickly move it away. Matt did it for her, seeing that she was still her awkward self when it came to anything sexual between them. He gave her a hug with her shyly looking at him. She could feel his groin close to her hip. He kissed her once again lovingly.

"Lets go to bed, alright?" he told her. "It's been a long day for both of us."

She nodded, with her tail starting to wag happily.

The two of them exited the bathroom, making their way to the bed. Matt got under the covers with Sissy about to do the same, still fully clothed. He stared at her, soon with Sissy stopping when she noticed the bewildered look on her face.

"You're not sleeping in that, are you?" he asked. She looked at him shyly again.

"Well... this is the only thing I have on, remember?"

Matt looked at her with a flattered filling.

"Aww..." he said slightly teasing her. "you're still shy to be naked around me, aren't you?"

Sissy looked to the side of the room, not saying anything. Matt turned over to look away from her.

"I won't look," he told her, "I promise."

Sissy wasn't sure if this were another joke or not, but started undoing her sash anyway. With her sash off, she got out of her yukata and got under the covers with him. Matt turned over, seeing her awkwardly lying next to him in the bed. She sorta seemed uncomfortable. Matt frowned, feeling a little guilty for joking about her discomfort about him.

"We don't have to sleep in the same bed, you know..." he told her. "You could have the bed while I sleep somewhere else. I'd sleep on the floor if I have to."

There were a multiple options she could have picked from. She could have slept somewhere else or let Matt do so. She could have also just changed into her beast form to make things slightly less awkward. However, she didn't want to. Not really. This was what she really wanted.

"It's okay." she told him still sounding shy. Matt smiled at her, seeing her smile back. He suddenly moved his upper body towards her. Knowing Matt, he was going to either grab her breasts her hips. Fear started overcoming her, worried that she was going to look like an idiot with the two of them now about to have sex. That was a given.

She was taken by surprised when he put his hand on the side of her face, giving her another tender, loving kiss. He didn't shove his tongue in her mouth, nor had her ever used tongue with her in the first place in fear he'd make her uncomfortable. Matt moved his head back from her, actually looking a little emotional.

"I've been a complete dick." he told her with a sigh. "I've yelled at you, made you cry, and I took things way to fast with you in the past. I promise you I'm not going to let that happen again and I don't want you worrying about me cheating on you. I'd never do that do someone I care about."

That was _not_ what Sissy had expected.

She looked at Matt with a astonished expression, seeing him lay back down on his back, giving her plenty of room to make sure she didn't feel awkward about sleeping in the same bed with him. After the events since they had met, it would be understandable to doubt what he said.

But she didn't.

In her heart, she new he was telling the truth.

Matt suddenly felt Sissy snuggle up next to him. He opened his eyes, seeing her up against his body. This in itself was a large leap of faith. Almost every part of her could be felt against his skin. It was practically an invitation for him to do whatever he wanted. A smile suddenly overcame Matt's face.

"You feel really warm..." he told her sounding sleepy.

Once again, not what she was expecting to hear.

Before she knew it, Matt had fallen asleep from physical exhaustion as she cuddled up next to him. She couldn't help but to give him one last kiss on the cheek, laying her head next to his, soon drifting off to sleep herself.


	50. Chapter 50

_**Chapter 50**_

_**The**_ next morning came, with it being fairly lively. Being eight o'clock, nearly everyone was up. Rachel was in the kitchen cooking the last of what they had in the refrigerator, making a mental note to go shopping with what little money she herself had left. She was cooking the usual breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, making slightly more than usual on the account of the two new additions: Clara, the adorable Pikachu Otto had found, and her Nidoran, which she still had yet to name.

Otto was sitting on the floor near the couch with his Pikachu Clara, playing peekaboo with her. His hands would cover over his glasses with her staring at the backs of his hands with focused eyes. She'd slightly lean forward, as if to wonder if her new trainer was still behind his own hands. Every time she did, Otto would throw his hands in the air and surprise her, with little Clara jumping backwards and landing on her butt. She let out a cute little giggle with her red cheeks sparking faintly.

The Nidoran Rachel had obtained was loyally by his trainer's feet while she cooked, looking up at her happily. Like a needy dog, it would paw at her shin and cheerfully look up at her as she grilled on her skillet. Rachel looked down at him, unable to help hold back from smiling back.

"Nini!" it chirped merrily. Rachel poked at the eggs she was frying, glancing down at him just has happy to see his cute little face again.

"I still don't know what to call him." She said aloud, turning over some of the bacon.

"I'm sure you will think of something, mistress." Laurence told her, sitting at the fold out kitchen table with a book in his hands. He'd been reading most of that morning, making himself some tea with the teapot, which was certainly new to him, using one of the other burners on the stove to heat the water while Rachel had been cooking. His eyes were locked onto the pages. "You have an imagination that surpasses most, in my opinion."

"Emie still says Horny is a good name." Emie told her, who was sitting right next to Laurence at the fold out table. Trying to mimic him, she'd gotten herself tea (after nearly burning herself by almost dumping the hot water on her), though wasn't brave enough to sip it until it cooled down. Rachel glanced over to Emie as she sat there at the kitchen table, with the Nidoran still pawing Rachel.

"We've disgusted the before," Rachel tried to explain, reminding herself that Emie had the mindset of a child. "it doesn't sound as cute as you might think."

"What she's trying to say," Shade said from across the room, sprawled out on part of the couch while watching Otto and Clara play. "it sounds like the Nidoran wants to fuck."

Bomber, who was sitting on the floor (in his beast form as usual) with Otto and Clara, looked up at Shade with an uncomfortable expression appearing behind the feathers on his face.

"I think Rachel's explanation would have sufficed." he told her frankly. Shade glanced over at Bomber, laying on the couch with her legs crossed and her arms folded behind her head. She gave him a 'whatever' look with a smirk following.

"Sorta like I bet _you're_ horny all the time." she snickered, trying to get his goat like she had been able to before.

It didn't work.

Bomber stared back at her, unable to pass up the opportunity to get revenge on her for all of the times she'd made him feel uncomfortable.

"I've been waiting for you, dear." he joked, giving her a playful wink. Shade looked at him as if he were serious, with an expression Bomber hadn't actually seen before. She suddenly forced herself to scowl at him, turning over to her face the back of the couch and avoid looking at him. Bomber kept looking at her, seeing her long shirt was slightly bunched up her to her thighs.

"Deciding to tease me with that cute butt of yours?" Bomber said almost sounding serious.

Shade actually acted panicked, reaching behind her and pulling on the back of the shirt. Even if Bomber couldn't really see anything, she acted like she were naked around him. He started laughing hysterically at her.

"It's not like I haven't seen your butt before." he told her still laughing, remembering the day he found her and Emie laying naked on the couch together. Shade felt herself getting embarrassed. Why? She didn't know. She _never_ got embarrassed about that kind of stuff, so why was she now? Shade moved her knees closer to her, moving them under her long shirt with the feeling of needing to hide herself. For the first time in her Haunter life she felt shy.

"Shut up..." she grumbled, making Bomber stop laughing. He realized she wasn't taking any of his joking well at all, now a little guilty.

"I was only kidding, Shade." he reminded her. She didn't budge.

"Whatever..." she mumbled.

Doug was still sleeping, with Darrell having left early that morning to go to 'work.' Nobody had saw him leave, but he left a nice note behind with Laurence being the one to read it when he came home that morning after needing to 'go out' on 'business' again. Matt and Sissy were still asleep also, with nobody besides them knowing anything about what happened last night.

Emie stared at her tea, looking over at Laurence every time he took a sip of his, still reading his book that he held with the other hand. With her finger, she poked it, feeling that the tea was still hot. With some of the tea still on her finger, she stuck it in her mouth and suckled it. All she could really taste was her finger.

"Emie thinks the tea needs sugar..." she told herself, grabbing for the small container that was kept in the center of the table. Pulling it close to her, Emie began to spoon sugar into the cup of tea with large clumps of it falling into it at a time. After the sixth giant spoonful of sugar was dumped in her tea, Laurence glanced over to her with a raised brow, amused by her shenanigans.

"Dear," he said in an enlightened tone. "I believe you have more sugar in that cup now than you do tea."

Emie shoved her finger in the cup, string it with a little of the tea running down the side as it spilled. She stopped with the sight of a large amount of sugar still settled at the bottom of the cup, staring at it her her happy eyes. Emie took a sip, still with the tea being a little hot. With her ears perking up, Emie's upper canine tooth stuck out from behind her lip.

"Tea is yummy!" she exclaimed, though mostly was only tasting the vast sum of sugar she had dumped into it.

"Boo!" Otto laughed, removing his hands from his face again. Clara jumped up, falling backwards. Landing on her rump, she yet out another giggle with her cheeks lighting up. Bomber was watching with a smile, getting a kick out of how cute Clara was. He moved his wing out, patting his large wing on her head with her ears being pushed down.

"You're so adorable." Bomber told Clara as she let out a coo of delight

"Pik_aaa_..." she responded contently, closing her eyes with a smile. Shade thought Bomber was talking to her still, turning around from where she was laying on the couch, glaring at him.

"I said shut up!" she yelled angrily in his direction. Bomber turned to look at her a little hurt.

"I wasn't talking to you..." he said sounding a little attacked verbally. Shade realized he was talking to Clara, soon blushing from embarrassment that she had yelled so loudly at him. She quickly turned back around, hiding her face from him.

"S-sorry..." she apologized. Bomber stared at her feeling a little melancholic so see Shade so flustered. She'd been acting funny lately ever since he'd turned the tables on her. Couldn't she handle her own kind of jokes? Ever since he'd gave her a kiss she'd been acting different around him.

"Is everything okay?" he asked her, still with Otto playing with Clara. "You've been acting really weird lately."

She didn't say anything nor did she move in response to his question.

At that moment, the door to Matt's room opened with him and Sissy exiting. Her hair was nicely combed down with her yukata on, though had left her bokuto in the room. Matt's hat was still in the room as well along with his jacket, only wearing his white tee shirt and jeans. He walked out with her with his hair slightly messy, glancing at Sissy with a smile. She in return shyly smiled back at him. Sissy still couldn't believe he finally chose her.

Otto looked up at him, doing a double take when he saw how jacked up his face was. Matt had a bruise on the side of his face with a split lip.

"Did Sissy hit you again?..." Otto asked. Everyone finally turned to look at Matt, stopping what they were doing momentarily, seeing Matt's face. When Clara saw it, her ears folded backwards with an almost scared expression on her little face appearing.

"Pikachu?..." she said sounding worried. Matt's brain quickly thought of a lie, hoping to still keep his and Gavin's little night of brawling in the dark.

"Oh this?" Matt said, taking a little more time to stall with Sissy putting her hands close to her sides uncomfortably. Rachel raised her eyebrow at Matt, clearly seeing that he was hiding something.

"Yeah, _that_." she told him harshly, with Emie staring at Matt with a sad face.

"You look like you got laid out." Bomber told him honestly. "Did you get into a fight?"

Matt started laughing with his brain still forming a brilliant lie.

"I ran into a door, that's all." he told them.

Gee, what a _brilliant_ lie...

Nobody bought it, still with the assumption that Sissy was the one who did it.

"He did." Sissy told everyone. "Matt wasn't paying attention to what he was doing last night and ran right into the Pokemon center door, expecting them to open. They were having a malfunction, not opening properly, with him nailing his face into the side of it."

Everyone blinked, starting to believe their formed lie, still having doubts though. Sissy looked at Matt with a very warm and happy smile.

"Besides," she told everyone, "if I was the one who did that to Matt I'd make sure it'd be a lot worse."

Both her and Matt started laughing with everyone, including Laurence who had momentarily set down his book, giving them a peculiar look. Shade had even turned herself over to stared at his beaten up face, finding it odd how well the two of them were getting along all of a sudden.

"You two seem like you're getting along better." Shade told them. Sissy and Matt laughed to themselves, glancing at one another unsure.

"How should we tell everyone?" Sissy asked. Matt glanced up at Emie, seeing her just as confused as Shade was.

"Delicately." he reminded her. "Do you wanna say it or should I?"

Otto squinted at his friend with little Clara now sitting in his lap. He was playing with her still, holding onto her little paws, pulling them up and down.

"Tell us what?" Otto inquired with Clara now happily laughing as he played with her. Matt and Sissy acted like they didn't hear him, going on about their conversation as to who was going to break the news.

"I don't trust myself to do it." Sissy told him, glancing over at Emie, "I'd probably be unable to hold back rubbing it in..."

Matt sighed, poking Sissy in her side. She laughed sweetly, jolting to the side away from his finger. Both of them laughed once again, now making everyone really starting to wonder.

"What is it that you wish to tell everyone?" Laurence asked, now with him too getting interested in what it might be they had to say. Matt looked at Sissy once again with her doing the same. She suddenly gave him a kiss on the lips, hoping that gesture itself would give a little explanation.

Instead of giving an explanation, it made everyone's jaws drop. Including Emie's.

Emie stood up from the kitchen table, stomping over to Matt as if feeling left out.

"Not fair!" she said sternly. She leaned in to try and kiss him, only to have Matt push her back.

"Emie, wait." he told her with Sissy clearly holding back from getting angry at her. Emie stepped back with a sad look in her eye. She couldn't understand why he didn't want to kiss her. If Sissy could kiss him then it was only fair that she could!

"Emie," Matt told her, with everyone watching in confusion. "I can't kiss you."

"But why?" Emie said sounding a little angry. "Sissy did!"

"That's because we're..." Matt stopped himself for a second, taking a deep breath. "dating."

Everyone was dead silent with frozen looks of surprise slapped on their faces. Emie's eyes grew wider with her mouth hanging open as if she were just told the world had ended. Sissy forced herself to not rub it in. If anything, she was starting to feel sorry for her with tears running down Emie's face. Matt frowned at her as if he had done something wrong.

"Emie, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you..."

Emie looked down at the floor with tears still running down her face.

"Emie loved Matt..." she told him sounding hurt. "Matt treated Emie better than Mikhail ever did."

The name Mikhail made Bombers eyes widen, remembering the man with the pink boot laces.

_"Haven't you missed Mikhail at all?"_ Bomber remembered the man she called Mikhail (even if it was only a Gastly in disguise) tell her. He had stroked her cheek with Emie starting to shake her head with tears in her eyes.. _"Well,"_ he had told her, _"I missed you, princess. Not to mention our love..."_

"But Emie doesn't really matter to Matt, does Emie?" Emie continued, clenching her teeth. She shot her head up, staring at him completely hurt along with a little angry. "Sissy hurt Matt, called Matt names, and Sissy is mean to everyone! But Matt loves _Sissy_ anyway?! Emie is sorry _Emie_ actually cares about Matt and loves Matt for being nice to Emie, unlike Sissy!"

Emie's head darted over to Shade pointing her finger at her, still crying.

"Shade lied to Emie!" she yelled with a mixture of a sob. "Shade told Emie things would be better, but they only got worse!"

Shade didn't know what to say. Emie turned back to Matt, who saw a side to her he'd never seen before. Emie lowered her head, clenching her hands into fists, crying even more now.

"Emie's entire life has been pain!" she yelled, as if admitting something he had hidden from everyone. "Emie has been treated not right, Emie has been beaten, and Emie has been lonely! Nobody ever cared about Emie until Emie found Matt! Now Matt doesn't care about her! Nobody cares about Emie and nobody ever will!"

Her emotional baggage seemed to just drop, unable to hold back from crying.

"Emie is stupid and not good at anything!" she yelled, still crying. "Emie can't even get people to like Emie!"

She wiped her eyes, leaving everyone speechless. She turned around, painfully making her way over to Laurence, not bothering to look up.

"Emie wants to go now..." she told him still crying, having been promised to be taken to the ninjutsu school after breakfast. Even though they hadn't eaten yet, Laurence felt it was best to do so like she wanted. He got up from the table, and gave his mistress an almost apologetic look. The Nidoran by Rachel's feet hid behind her, afraid of Emie and her yelling. Laurence made his way to the door with Emie following after him. He opened the door for her with Emie exiting with her head lowered. Laurence gave a last look to everyone before leaving, clearly feeling saddened for her.

The door closed with Matt letting out a guilty sigh. Sissy hugged him and nestled her head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry..." she told him sounding as if it were her fault. Matt didn't say anything, only hugging her back. Everyone was at a loss, looking from the front door, then to Matt and Sissy hugging each other. The sound of Doug exiting his room and dragging his feet didn't faze a single person.

"Is everything okay?..." he yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. "I heard yelling..."

Everyone was too shocked to respond.


	51. Chapter 51 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 51**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Very carefully, Kane placed another card with the small circle he was creating with them. The playing cards he had leaned against each other near the bookshelf, taking the shape of a large circle, now with half of the deck of playing cards already been used. With steady hands he placed another few cards in the shape of a bottomless triangle, leaning them against each other. The office door opened with Clara entering. She was wearing her usual, a nice skirt, blouse, along with a cheerful face. Kane glanced over to her with two more cards in his hands.

"Good morning, Clara." Kane told her, sounding well rested for a change.

"Ria_chu!_" she responded. Kane blinked, looking at her wrist where her bracelet usually was, though typically went unnoticed. Clara soon realized she had forgotten it the moment she spoke.

"I'm sorry for not being very bilingual," Kane jokingly apologized to her. "but I'm not good with the Pokemon language."

Clara looked embarrassed, quickly leaving the office with Kane hearing the sound of her running through the hall of his home. Not even a minute later she returned, raising her hand to show her bracelet was on.

"Got it!" she said, sounding more excited than usual. "Would we be able to get to reading, sir? I really want to know what's going to happen next. Ever since I've been introduced in the story I've been remembering bits and pieces about my past! I'm so happy I could-"

"Did you take you medicine?" Kane interrupted her, calmly placing two more cards down with the circle growing. Clara felt herself get embarrassed.

"Um...no, not yet..." she told him, turning around to leave again. "Sorry..."  
"It's alright Clara." Kane told her. "I just want to make sure everything is being taken care of. Your recovery has a lot to do with that medicine you have to take."

Clara turned her head, giving him an acknowledging nod, then proceeded to leave the office for a second time. The sound of her walking down the hall was heard. Kane chuckled to himself, nearly completing the circle of cards he was working on. After a few more minutes, Clara came back.

"Okay!" she told him, sounding giddy and excited. "I took my medicine and I'm ready to continue with the story."

Kane didn't look at her, though nodded slowly with his hands calmly placing more cards down. Clara watched him, curious as to what he was doing.

"Might I ask you something, Clara?" Kane said to her. Clara stood there with her hands together, nodding her head awkwardly. Realizing he couldn't see her with his eyes focused on the cards, she knew she had to vocalize herself.

"Yes, sir." she told him. Kane laughed, finally taking the time to move his head in her direction.

"No need to call me sir, Clara." he assured her. "Remember, just call me Kane."

"Yes _Kane._" she responded, followed by an adorable laugh. It made Kane chuckle.

"How well do you remember the innocent with Emie getting upset?"

Clara frowned, looking down at the floor with the wheels in her head turning.

"It's still a little fuzzy," she told him, "but I remember that everyone was really shocked. I didn't get to know Emie very well yet, I don't think at least, but she didn't seem like the kind of person to get mad like that." Clara started laughing to herself with happy memories of her and Otto playing together when she was still a Pikachu coming. "To be perfectly honest, I was more focused on playing with Otto to really get to know anyone besides him."

Kane gave another understanding nod, placing down the last of the two cards of the deck, finishing the circle he was striving to create. Even so, it was the beginning of something that would take time.

"It feels like Matt and everyone were in Pewter city for a really long time." Clara told Kane. He stood up from the card circle, glancing at the other decks of cards on his desk, being many _many_ more stacks to use.

"Some things take time, Clara." Kane told her. "Pewter city was certainly a long stop, but a very life changing one."

Clara watched Kane walk over to his desk, sitting down and grabbing for something in his drawer, pushing aside the dirty magazine with the sexy anthropomorphic fox on the cover.

"Life changing sir-um, I mean, Kane?"

"Yes." he said seriously. Pulling out some paper, setting it down on his desk, next to the multiple letters he had received recently. He leaned back with a pen between his fingers, looking at Clara with a half smile "The events in Pewter city began to sculpt Matt and his friends more than they realized it would."

Kane then closed his eyes, signing.

"That includes both of the good and bad that came with the events, I suppose." Kane sighed, now glancing down at the parchment on his desk. Clara's eyes widened, quickly sitting down in the leather chair which had been designated to her, moving her slender tail to her lap.

"Can we please read more!" she nearly begged. Kane laughed at her eagerness.

"Of course we will." he told her. "But first need to write something, if that's alright with you."

"Okay." Clara said positively, waiting patently for Kane as he clicked the pen in his hand and began writing, taking one last look at the letters he'd received.

_Dear Readers,_

_ Let me allow myself to apologize for two things. One, I'm sorry if this story arch feels as if it's been dragging on forever. I pray you all haven't lost interest in the events that have taken place. Please understand that I DO have a plan for all of this, just be patient. I promise this will all fall into place soon enough. Secondly, I'm sorry for so many of the Kane and Clara chapters recently. I assure you there won't be this much all the time. We're just in a 'delicate' section of the book, thus making it almost a requirement to check back on Clara and I on a frequent basis._

_ Some of you have wondered if I'm actually like this in person. Yes, I actually am. I'm not some fat, balding man writing this in my basement. I am who I say I am, trying my best to portray myself as the person that is truly me. Everything I've said about myself is true, which includes both 'good' and bad traits I possess, and even how I act. As much as this might sound like a load of excrement, I am a fairly nice person with, what I've been told a 'very wonderful personality with other great qualities.', to which I respond mostly with: 'Whatever...'_

_ On that note, I'm also a huge self-pessimist, hating pretty much the majority of things about me. I'm the kind of person who sees the glass half empty when it pertains to myself, even when it's completely full and overflowing. I've had some of you actually tell me not to be so hard on myself, which I find rather thoughtful. Maybe during this journey I'll learn to be positive about me as a person, but in the meanwhile, all I have to say is: whatever..._

_ I also want to give a big thank you to Knotty, who is also the person I describe her as. She's been a very good friend that has been helping me with the Japanese culture in Pewter city and other aspects of the story. She's also the one who demanded their be a 'sexy' Gengar in Flame of Life, as (I think) I've stated before. Thus, Laurence was born with myself doing a majority of the character development on him with Knotty fan-girling over him ever since. When she does, I feel compelled to joke about her sexual hangups, though I honestly have no room to speak, I know._

_ One last thing. A few people were wondering about the sexy magazine I joked about. For those of you who are wondering, yes, I am a furry. Big surprise considering the aspects of this story, the large hints I've dropped, as well as the pendant with the paw print on it that I wear. I suck at sarcasm in these letters..._

_ Anyway, thank you all for the constant support you've been giving me, enjoying the story that I constantly feel is flawed and could be better. I know I'll have at least one person telling me the story is fine so I'll stop myself here. You're all wonderful._

_ -Krimson Kane_

Kane stood up from the desk, grabbing the book he'd been reading to Clara and heading over to his reading chair. Before doing so, he took one last glance at the circle of cards he had created, knowing there was still more work to be done. He sat down with the large tome in his hands, turning it the chapter they were on. Kane opened his mouth.

The sound of his phone going off in his pocket made him stop, realizing he had just received a text message. He sighed, feeling bad for keeping Clara on the edge of her seat the entire time as he reached into his pocket. Kane pulled out his phone, checking it to see he had a message. It was from Knotty.

"**You should prolly answer the door :D"** it read. Knotty had always found it fun to say "prolly" instead of "probably" in her texts. Kane looked up at Clara, hitting the reply button on his phone, about to text Knotty back.

"Would you mind opening the front door for Knotty?" he asked her kindly. Clara ears twitched with her tail doing the same as she stood up.

"I was unaware that she was stopping by again." Clara told him, quickly making her way out of the office door.

"Neither did I." Kane laughed. Clara left the office, leaving Kane alone in the room with the book in his lap with his phone still in his hand. He started responding to her.

"**Clara's on her way downstairs.**" he texted back. Not even a fifteen seconds later he got a response from Knotty.

"**Okies xD**" was her response. She also was known to say Okies instead of 'Okay'. Just another thing she did when she texted. A minute later, both Clara and Knotty entered the room. Knotty still had her phone in her hand, giving Kane a friendly smile, noticing the book in his lap.

"You haven't read past the part where Emie goes to the ninjutsu school, have you?" she asked, almost worried he had. Kane shook his head.

"I was actually about to start reading that one." he told her. "You came just in time."

"Awesome," she told him, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. She made Clara seem uneasy, making her motion towards the empty chair she typically used.

"Wouldn't you rather sit in a chair?" Clara asked her awkwardly. Knotty shook her head, happy where she was.

"I'm fine sitting on the floor." she told her. Once again, sitting on the floor was a Knotty thing that she was known for doing. Clara looked at Kane unsure, finally sitting down on her chair, feeling bad for having Knotty sit on the floor.

"She's fine, Clara." Kane told her reopening the book. Knotty gave him a joking dirty look.

"Gee," she said purposely sounding sarcastic. "thanks for making me sit on the floor."

"You're welcome." Kane joked back. "Now, can I get back to the story?"

"Oh no," Knotty said jokingly. "I just felt like staring at you awkwardly."

Kane raised his brow, unable to resit.

"If you would be staring at anyone it would be Clara, you pervert.." Kane teased. Knotty sneered back at him with a smug grin. Clara looked at Kane confused, feeling a little uncomfortable with the situation forming.

"_You're_ the one who has her living with you, Mr. Furry." She teased.

He just rolled his eyes at her, looking down at the book, soon reading the next chapter.


	52. Chapter 52

_**Chapter 52**_

_**Darrell**_ submerged the man's head into the water once again, holding him by the back of his neck as he struggled with him. The interrogation session had been going on for a good half hour. After punching him a few times and throwing him into a table, Darrell had resorted to making him nearly drown to get the money he was sent to collect. Darrell pulled the man's head up again, who took a deep breathe with his heart racing.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again." Darrell told him, still holding the man's head over the sink with the poor bastard panting for air still. "Hand over the money that you rightfully owe."

"Rightfully owe?" the man spat with his spit mixed with water coming out of his mouth. "You can't expect me to just hand over everything I make! I'm going to lose my business if I give anything more than I already have!"

Darrell shoved the man's head in the water again, hating every second of doing this to him. Even if he hated doing this, it paid the bills and he needed the money for both him and Doug.

"Wrong answer." Darrell told him seriously. He could hear scurrying in the room next door, seeing silhouettes of a small child and a woman behind the paper door that slid, being an authentic japanese style. He knew they could hear everything he was saying, making sure not to swear. Darrell pulled the man up from the sink again, now with him breathing heavily once again.

"Just give me the money you own and I'll leave." Darrell told him. "Don't make me do something more drastic."

"Please," the man begged him. "I don't have anything else I can give without going under this month! I have a family to feed!"

Darrell wanted to sympathize with him; to tell him he was sorry. But he knew he couldn't. He would be forced to keep shaking this man down until he paid up. He shoved the man's head under that water once again, listening to him panic underneath.

The woman in the other room finally couldn't take it anymore, coming into the kitchen area after sliding the door open with a small sum of bills in her hand. Darrell quickly pulled the man back up to air with him gasping, feeling as if he were about to pass out.

"Please take this and leave." the woman told Darrell with sad eyes. Darrell let go of the man, with him falling on his knees, still desperately trying to get air to his lungs. He looked up at his wife, seeing his son run up behind her, hiding his face behind her kimono. Darrell took the money weakly, frowning at the woman and bowing his head.

"Forgive me." he told her. It was all he could say. Darrell quietly walked his way to the entrance of their home, sliding the large door open. The man on the floor looked up at Darrell with hateful eyes, baring his teeth.

"I hope you're happy!" he yelled. "We'll starve this month thanks to you!"

Darrell stood with his back facing the family, looking down at the wad of bills he had been given. He turned around, facing them all once again. Darrell started walking towards the woman with the man on the floor growing frightened. Their son hid more behind his mother, fearing the man that had been hurting his father.

"Stay the hell away from my family!" the man roared.

Darrell took one of the bills, being 2000 Tabs, and handed it to her. She looked at it confused as to what his motives were.

"I know this isn't much," he told her seriously, "but I hope this is can buy you enough food for the time being."

The woman took the bill from him, giving Darrell a small bow, not sure what to say.

"Thank you." she told him. Darrell made his way towards the entrance of the home, stepping out and closing the door behind him.

After closing the doors, he looked down at his shoes he had taken off before entering the home. He didn't have to. Shit, he didn't do anything to respect them. Hugo had told him to even kill the wife if he wanted to. Actually, Hugo told him to 'fuck the living shit out of that whore' then kill her if he so pleased. Darrell put on his shoes, disgusted with himself. It was still raining, though had slightly lightened up.

He began to walk the streets of the Team Rocket controlled neighborhood as it rained, making his way in the direction of the Candy Club, where he had been working for the past few days. He hated it. Darrell hated everything he was forced to do, but he couldn't force himself and Doug to keep parading themselves around like women for chump change. Whether he liked it or not, he was forced to work for the fat son of a bitch.

After a short walk, he had made it back to the club, entering in with some of the Team Rocket members hanging outside looking at him. Darrell just ignored them, though wished he could put a bullet in their sick and twisted brains.

The dim lighting of the club didn't relax Darrell any nor did the damn music or pictures and kanji on the wall. Or the sounds of woman, both human and Pokemon alike, being forced to suck dick and pleasure their customers, all being members of Team Rocket with money to spend. He took a deep breath, telling himself it didn't matter. Even if that was a horrible lie.

Hugo was sitting in the back of the club, not having any woman this time. However, a man dressed in dark clothes and a Team Rocket jacket, was conversing with him. Darrell approached them, seeing Hugo look up at him with a smug smile.

"Hey 'hero.'" Hugo laughed. "I saw you on TV. They've been playing that fucking edit of the stardust incident you got involved in over and over again. You sure you haven't gone soft on me?"

Darrell looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"How am I soft for doing what I did?" Darrell asked him, forcing himself to be tough, even if it forced him to use dialect he normally didn't apply to his average conversation. "I shot the hell out of that scaly piece of shit."

"Yeah," one of the Team Rocket members told him with a rude laugh. "only to save your boyfriend and worthless friends."

Darrell looked at him, refusing to take shit from some grunt.

"Fuck you, punk." Darrell told him. "I'd like to see you take a shot at a raging beast like that hopped up on stardust. You'd probably get fucked in the ass like the little bitch you are."

Naturally, the Team Rocket member got up from the couch, getting in Darrell's face.

"You wanna run that by me again, bitch?" he asked him, as if to intimidate Darrell. Hugo sat back and watched, preparing to enjoy the show that was about to start. He had no intention of interrupting Darrell's confrontation, knowing all too well what was about to happen.

"Sure," Darrell told him, grabbing the Team Rocket member's arm, twisting him around and making him bend forward. A nasty cracking noise was heard with the TR member cringing in horrific pain. "I said you'd probably get fucked in the ass like the little bitch you are. You hear me now?"

He pushed forward on the arm he was holding, pushing it even farther forward with a disturbing dislocating noise being heard. The TR member let out a scream of pain, with the entire club stopping what they were doing, both customer and sex slaves alike, looking to see what was going on.

"I'm fucking tired of dealing with little pricks like you!" Darrell snarled, making the Team Rocket member let out another yell of pain when he jerked forward on his arm. "Get the hell out of my face before I do something you'd regret having happen to you!"

Darrell threw him on the ground with the TR member painfully landing on his face. Hugo started laughing his fat ass off, pointing at the member as if it were the funniest damn thing he'd ever seen in his life. The member got up with his dislocated arm hanging by his side, hurrying towards the exit of the club. Before leaving, the Team Rocket member made the biggest mistake of his life.

"Fuck you!" he yelled to Darrell, turning around to flip him off. Darrell instantly reached behind him, pulling out his gun and aiming it forward. With perfect marksmanship, he shot at the members finger with it being shot off. The member let out a scream of pain with everyone in the club besides Hugo, who was still laughing his ass off, letting out a noise of horror in unison. Some of the sex slaves hid their faces, with one of the customers, also being from Team Rocket, accidentally throwing up from how disturbing it was to see blood shooting out of the other member's finger.

"No," Darrell told him, still pointing his gun at him. "fuck _you_! Now get out of here before I take another shot at you!"

The Team Rocket member ran for his life, holding his bleeding hand now missing a middle finger in terrible pain. Hugo was still laughing hysterically, not giving a single shit about the grunt. They were only grunts; they didn't mean shit to him.

"It seems you still are the cold hearted son of a bitch I used to know." Hugo told him, wiping the tears from his eyes from all of the laughter. "Damn, that was funny!"

Hugo looked at all of the sex slaves who had stopped pleasuring their customers, snapping his fingers and raising his voice.

"Back to work!" he hollered. "Show's over!"

They all did what they were told with Darrell still holding his gun. He wasn't going to put it back behind his pants on the account of the barrel of it still hot as hell. The last thing he wanted after a shitty day of work was a burn mark on his upper ass. He looked at Hugo, handing over the money he had in his other pocket.

"Here you go," he told him with his gun still in hand, "it's 2000 short. The bastard tore up one of the bills in front of me, as if his balls were made of freaking steel. I gave him a good beating for it, nearly killed him too. You can dock it out of my paycheck if you want. Beating him senseless was worth it. Dumped his ass in water nearly until he drowned"

Hugo completely bought his lie (except for the water part), nodding his head understandingly.

"It's fine." Hugo told him. "I'd never rip you off for your fine work. You fuck his wife?"

"Nah," Darrell told him. "I was gonna tear her pussy up right then in there in front of him and his kid, but the bitch smelled funny."

Another lie that Hugo completely bought.

"Gotcha." Hugo told him with another nod. "It's difficult to bang a whore that smells like crap. Maybe you should have dumped _her_ in water too, then screwed her."

Darrell forced a laugh, feeling the urge to pull his gun up and cap Hugo in the skull, but knew better. He was getting paid by him, even if he hated his work.

"I've got one more job for you today." Hugo told him. "I need you to collect a payment at the house near the sushi joint with the stupid ass Tentacool on it. The home has red flowers sitting on outside; you can't miss it."

"Got it." Darrell told him, walking towards the entrance of the candy club, forcing himself to not do anything stupid with the sound of woman being grouped and fondled being heard at the multiple sections of the Japanese styled club.

He came outside, finally putting his gun away after some of the Team Rocket members were eying him a little scared. Darrell was once again becoming feared and respected in the Team Rocket community. At the rate he was going he very well could join the ranks of the gang once again. But was that really what he wanted?

Darrell noticed two familiar faces out of the corner of his eye, seeing Emie and Laurence wandering a little ways down the street in a different direction, soon disappearing. It made him wonder what on earth they were doing in the neighborhood.

_**Emie**_ hadn't said a single word ever since they had walked through Pewter city in the direction of the ninjutsu school. Laurence didn't particularly like the fact that it was in the same district where Team Rocket ran rampant, but knew they would leave Emie and him alone. If anyone actually did have the guts to try and start something Laurence would be more than willing to finish it. Luckily nobody dared to do so.

Laurence glanced at Emie, seeing that she was still completely depressed, not sure if it was the rain or her tears that kept falling off of her face. He had offered to get her something to use as an umbrella, but she didn't even respond, trudging through the muddied streets of Pewter city, getting her bare feet dirty. She didn't care at all.

"Emie," Laurence told her, "this man we are going to meet might be a little critical. Frankly, I hate everything about him, but considering his bloodline had more ninja's try to kill me, and nearly did a few times, he's the best person to train you. Even if he is mean, you need to listen to what he says."

Emie didn't say anything, only nodding her head weakly. Laurence frowned, hating to see her so miserable. The two of them kept walking, soon nearing a building, being fairly large with steps leading up to it. Laurence pointed, at it, as if to direct Emie. The two of them started to ascend the steps.

A man wearing a rice picker hat to protect him from the rain was standing outside the doors, keeping watch at all times like he had been instructed to do. He saw a strange, pale name in a suit walking up the stairs with a Meowth in foreigner clothes. The man stood tall, staring at the two of them as they approached.

"_Do you have business here?_" the man in the rice picker hat asked very direct, speaking in Japanese. Laurence gave a small bow with Emie's head still drooping.

"_I wish to speak with Master Nagato."_ Laurence told him, speaking in perfect Japanese in response. Emie curiously looked up, seeing the man give a bow and opening the door to allow them in. Laurence used his magic, making his shoes disappear along with his socks, now in bare feet. He pointed his hand at Emie's feet, concentrating to use Ground type magic to remove the mud from her feet. After hundreds of years of practice, he had learned a few tricks involving the other classes of magic, though was still slightly difficult for him. The man in the rice picker hat stared at in awe, unsure of what this man really was. Laurence entered the ninjutsu school with Emie, giving another bow to the man before continuing inside, who continued to gawk at Laurence.

Emie looked around the large empty room that was the school, seeing that polished wood flooring with a man sitting in the middle, sipping on some tea with his legs crossed. The room was fairly bare with only a few weapon racks on the sides of the walls, being all made of wood. They all looked like Sissy's bokuto, making Emie feel even worse than before.

The man sitting in the middle of the room drinking tea, sitting at a small table, wore a white outfit with black slipper like shoes. He sorta looked like a karate instructor instead of a master ninja. His age showed, having long white hair he kept tied up on his head with a short white beard. Laurence and Emie approached him, sitting down at the small table with Laurence sitting on his knees and Emie plopping down on her butt with her bell giving a jingle.

Laurence and him just stared.

Silence.

"_Fujibayashi Nagato,_" Laurence said in Japanese. "_It seems your bloodline truly has lasted longer than mine."_

Nagato stared at him, slightly squinting. He could sense who he was, not to mention _what_ he was.

"_Sakamoto Musashi..._" Nagato responded in Japanese, sounding very unsurprised. "_I never expected to meet the legend such as yourself, even more so in such an unusual form. You must have a good reason to show your face in my school._"

"_You are correct._" Laurence told him, with Emie's head still lowered. "_I've come with an offer._"

Nagato began to laugh as if being told a joke.

"_Accept an offer from you?_" he laughed. _"I would rather die, you worthless ronin samurai. Tell me, how many of my family's men do you think you killed when you were still alive?"_

_ "Not enough."_ Laurence told him harshly, still with the two of them speaking in their native tongue as Emie sat there with her head hung low. _"I wish I could have killed all of you, but I was too busy being stabbed in the back."_

_"As well as your stomach I was told_." Nagato reminded him sadistically.

_"Enough talk, you worthless roach."_ Laurence told him with a calm voice, not letting Emie know how much he hated the man they were seeing. "_I need you to teach this Meowth the way of the filthy ninja. It is her dream and I believe she could be the best pupil anyone in your bloodline has ever taught."_

Nagato glared at him, sipping his tea.

"_Why is that?"_ he asked him. Laurence glanced over at Emie, seeing her head still hung

"_Your family line never trained a Meowth, only humans."_ Laurence told him. "_She has so much potential that she could be better than every ninja I have ever killed combined. That is many ninjas Nagato."_

Nagato stroked his beard, looking at Laurence, understanding the potential he was speaking of.

"_Perhaps,_" he told him. "_though I must ask you, why you are doing this? If you despise the art of the shinobi so much, why would you wish to teach her to learn our ways?"_

Laurence closed his eyes, sighing.

"_Consider it part of my redemption for the wrong I have done to your family and friends, though I hardly feel any guilt for slaughtering them._"

Nagato stroked his beard, thinking about Laurence's offer. He had always wanted to try to train a Meowth the way of the ninja, however had never been able to have such an opportunity. Though having it come from such an evil man such as Sakamoto Musashi, as he was known when he was still alive thousands of years ago, made him unsure. But to pass up such an opportunity would be foolish.

"_Fine,"_ Nagato told Laurence finally. "_I shall teach her the way of the shinobi._"

Larence gave him a bow of his head.

"_I thank you._" Laurence told him. "_I must warn you though, she is still foolish and thinks the way a child might. Her speech is flawed as well._"

"_No matter,_" Nagato said with a wave of his hand. "_Nothing she can't be beaten out of. And her speech matters little. Students are never allowed to talk back._"

"_Again,_" Laurence told him. "_I thank you._"

Laurence stood up with Emie glancing up down at him.

"Emie," he told her, "I will come back for you later when your day's training is finished. Please listen to Master Nagato and do what he says."

Emie nodded weakly, watching as Laurence left the ninjutsu school. The man at the entrance let him out, with Laurence giving Emie once last goodbye. The door closed with master Nagato sipping his tea, setting it down on the small table in front of him and Emie.

"From now on you have no right to speak." he told Emie. "Your name is not important, nor do I care what it may be. You will not address me verbally, thoughI **am** your master. Do you understand?"

Emie opened her mouth, quickly closing it before she spoke. She nodded instead.

"Good." he told her. "You're not completely stupid."

Nagato stood up with Emie doing the same, snapping his fingers and yelling out the name of his assistant. Like a loyal dog, he ran inside, bowing his head. Nagato told him to fetch an outfit for 'the Meowth.' He did as he was told, running off to another room of the dojo.

"Normally I would not teach a woman." Nagato told her. "Woman are only meant for breeding and cooking. Though I suppose a few females, if they have the will, can be deadly shinobi. As long as you aren't a complete disappointment, I will work with you.

His words stung Emie, though she nodded respectfully. The assistant came back with a white outfit like master Nagato's, handing it to Emie. Nagato pointed at a section of the room with a changing area set up.

"Take off everything." he told her. "Collar included."

Emie did as she was told, quickly making her way to the dressing area with the pain still in her heart from that morning. She got behind the changing area and got out of her clothes, putting on the outfit she had been given, tying on the white band around her waist, fumbling with her fingers to do so.

After fully changing, she exited the changing area, walking towards her master with him stroking his beard.

"Very good." he said to her. "Now, let us get to training."

He pointed towards the floor.

"Do push ups." he told her. "And do not stop until I tell you to."

Emie did as she was told, panting both hands on the floor with Nagato watching her pump down and back up with her arms, doing a single pushup before kicking one of her hands out from beneath her. Emie's face planted agasint the floor with her letting out a grunt of pain.

"With only one hand." Nagato corrected her. "Two hands is child's play."

And so, Emie's hellish training truly began.

"_**I**_ still can't believe the two of you are dating." Rachel said, sounding almost frightened by the fact that Sissy was sitting in Matt's lap on the couch. With her legs to the side, Sissy sat twisted on her newly acquired boyfriend, who's arms were lovingly wrapped around her waist.

"And it only took several beatings, countless insults, and a few near death experiences." Matt joked. Sissy frowned at him, feeling like shit for everything he'd been through for her.

"Please be nice." she told him sounding sad. "I feel bad as it is that Emie leaving the way she did."

"Whoa, whoa," Shade said putting her hands up as if she had misheard her, sitting on the other part of the couch still. "did you say _you_ felt bad for _Emie_? You really aren't yourself when you're happy, huh?"

Sissy sighed with Otto, Bomber, and Clara still sitting on the floor. Otto had Clara wrapped in his arms as she napped against him. Her ears would twitch every so often as she slept peacefully. Doug and the Nidoran were together, with him playing with the adorable little guy.

"It's hard to believe _you_ were trying to kill us before." Doug said with a not very masculine laugh. The Nidoran nudged himself against Doug, letting out a coo of joy.

"Nido!" it chirped.

"At least Sissy's happy though." Bomber said aloud. "I like seeing her smile; it's very pretty when she does."

Sissy blushed a little, coyly acting like it weren't a big deal. Matt gave Bomber a jokingly angry squint.

"Hey pal," he told him with a laugh. "don't be flirting with my woman."

He squeezed around her a little tighter and pulled her closer.

"_Mine!_" he said playfully, making Sissy laugh. Shade grinned at the two of them.

"You two make such a cute couple." she said seriously. "I just wish Emie would have taken the news a little better than she did though."

"I'm just confused as to what she meant when she mentioned the name Mikhail." Matt said to himself. Bomber looked away, wondering if he should say anything to anyone.

The suite door opened with Laurence entering. Rachel jumped over the couch, greeting her suited Gengar with a half smile.

"Hey Laurence," she said with a hand on her hip. "did Emie get any better before you dropped her off?"

He sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid not." he told her. "With any luck she'll be more focused on her training than being upset. Considering this teacher I set her up with has been rumored to be a little rough, I think her personal problems will be the last thing on her mind."

Sissy frowned, feeling even worse for Emie. Now with Matt finally being hers, she realized she really didn't hate Emie as much anymore with the jealously factor being gone.

"Is she going to be alright?" Sissy inquired with a worried tone of voice. Laurence nodded.

"She should be fine." he told her.

Matt sighed, still feeling guilty.

"I just wish she didn't cry like she did." he said aloud with everyone to hear. Sissy leaned into him as he continued to hold her around the waist, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. It made him feel a little better.

There was suddenly a knock at the door. Rachel was the one to go and answer it, passing by Laurence as he stood there with his hands in his pockets, wondering if it were a mistake to leave Emie with Nagato. Damn roach...

Rachel opened the door, seeing Amber standing outside. Sissy got up off of Matt so he could stand up, seeing Amber smiling at the door.

"Hey," she said with Matt and Sissy making his way over to her as she stepped inside. "Did you still wanna go on the date?"

Matt and Sissy stood side by side, now looking at each other, then to Amber. Feeling like a complete dick, Matt put his hand on the back of his neck and let out a sigh.

"Sorry Amber," he told her. "I can't. Sissy and I...well, we actually started dating last night."

Amber's eye grew wide from surprise.

"Seriously?" she said, not so much saddened as she was amazed. "I didn't really know you two got along that well."

Matt shrugged with Sissy grabbing around his arm happily.

"We do now amazingly enough," Matt laughed. "and it's great not being beaten around and insulted anymore."

He felt a pinch at his side, jerking away from Sissy who had done it with a playful frown, narrowing her gaze at him.

"You were just too stupid to realize I loved you." she told him with a huff, clearly not as offended as she pretended to be. Matt poked her in the stomach, making her laugh. It was as cute as ever, even making Amber smile.

"Yeah," Matt joked. "nothing says I love you like a smack upside the head or being called and idiot."

Sissy frowned, sticking her tongue out at him. Amber shrugged, sighing as if it were to be expected.

"I never really had a shot anyway, I guess." she told Matt sounding a little said, yet understanding nonetheless. "You're bound to get even more woman crawling over you. If I were you, Sissy, I'd make sure nobody tries to snatch him from you."

"Like hell." Sissy said, glancing at Matt. She knew Amber was only joking. Even so, Matt most likely deserved better than her. Sissy didn't have big boobs, an amazing personality, or really anything she thought Matt would want. It would be easy for someone to steal his heart from her.

"Sissy's too much of a catch for me to let go of." Matt assured Amber, making Sissy surprised to hear that. "She's got a beautiful figure, is playful and nice- when she wants to be, of course-, has an amazing personality, and is tough as hell. What more could I ask for?"

Sissy blushed, feeling completely flattered as Matt put his arm around her waist.

"Not to mention is a furry." Rachel added spitefully from behind him. "She's a form of canine too, so that's a double reason."

Matt shrugged, still holding onto her.

"All the reason to not let her go." Matt laughed, not taking offense to Rachel. Sissy shyly smiled at Matt with him giving her a wink in return. Amber sighed, a little saddened that he was now officially taken. Even if he had already considered Amber as only a friend, she thought she still had a shot at winning him over.

"Oh well," Amber said. "I guess I'll just have to be happy for you then."

She turned and walked out the door, giving a friendly wave goodbye to everyone. The door closed behind her with Matt smiling.

"At least _she_ took it well." He laughed. Everyone went about with what they were doing previously with Sissy looking at Matt still.

"Did...you really mean all of that stuff?" she asked him shyly. Matt looked at her with a smile.

"You're my flame of life," he reminded her. "of course I did."

Sissy took him by surprise, giving him a loving kiss with her hands on both sides of his face, showing just how much she appreciated hearing that come from him.

"Jeez, get a room you two." Rachel said with a snicker. "If you wanna suck face, do it somewhere else."

Sissy stopped kissing Matt, frowning over to Rachel as if she were serious. She let out a surprised yelp when Matt picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Sounds like a good idea." Matt said jokingly, caring Sissy across the room with her still hanging over his shoulder. He made his way to his room with everyone watching him do so. Bomber cocking his head to the side, seeing Sissy start laughing again with the door closing behind them.

"I don't think I've ever seen Sissy so happy before." he said prospectively. He turned his head to Shade, who suddenly looked on guard. "Why can't _we_ be that happy, my sexy ghost lover?"

Instead of getting mad, she frowned, looking rather hurt. She got up from the couch, fading through in and walked towards the door, fading through it as well. If Bomber could have frowned, he would have, instantly regretting joking with her, even if he didn't fully understand why she was so upset.

"Come one, Shade!" he yelled, hurrying up to try and catch her. "I was only kidding!"

He rushed, flapping over the couch and landing near the door, yanking it open and following after her. While this was all happening, Otto just rolled his eyes.

"I swear," he said to Clara as he held her in his arms, still fast asleep. "everyone here is so unstable."

Clara's ears twitched with her softly breathing.

During this, Matt had set Sissy down on the bed in his room, with the two of them still laughing. He smiled at her, taking off his socks, soon followed by his shirt. Sissy suddenly stopped laughing, getting nervous. Matt looked at her funny, suddenly making his way to the bathroom.

"I'm just getting ready to take a shower." He told her with a laugh. Sissy was once again surprised. Even if he was respecting her, she never realized he would treat her so well. Not to say she wouldn't like to do something special with him again, though, felt like she needed some time. It was flattering to have Matt realize that.

"I'll be in here if you need anything." he told her, making his way into the bathroom.

"Okay." she told him with a cute smile. "Um, hey Matt?"

Matt ducked his head back outside into the room.

"Yeah?" he said. Sissy started blushing.

"I love you..." she told him sounding cute. Matt smiled back at her, enjoying how sweet she was acting towards him.

"I love you too, Sissy." he told her before moving back into the bathroom. The sound of the shower turning on was made with Sissy sitting on the bed, smiling to herself, truly happy on the inside. And yet at the same time, she felt guilty for Emie. Hopefully the feeling would pass, she thought.

It didn't.

_**Bomber**_ quickly made his way down the hall after Shade, who suddenly stopped at the elevator, hitting the button. He wasn't going to lose her that easy.

"Oh no you don't!" he told her. He came up to her, blocking off the elevator. She glared at him. Even if she could phase through him, she just stood there, looking away from him.

"Would you please tell me what's wrong?" he asked her. "You've been acting funny ever since I started using your own jokes against you. Are you honestly going to act like you're hurt because you can't handle your own stupid jokes?"

Shade looked up at Bomber.

She looked pissed.

She was also starting to cry.

The elevator finally closing behind Bomber, descending to another floor it had been called to.

Bomber soon felt like he had done something wrong, lowering his head slightly.

"H-hey..." he told her worried. "Are you alright?..."

"Do I look alright to you?" she asked him sounding mad as hell. Bomber sheepishly shook his large bird head.

"Not really, no..."

Shade glared at him, still with tears steaming down her pale purple face.

"You just _had_ to kiss me!" she told him with a shake of her head. "You just _had_ to tell me you fucking liked me! You just couldn't let the jokes be one sided, that way _I_ could control how _I_ felt! But no, you just _had_ to screw with my head and kiss me!"

Bomber stared at her, not sure what to even say to her.

"Shade..." was all he could manage. She just shook her head, starting to cry even more.

"God dammit!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I fucking promised myself _I_ was in charge! The son of a bitch fucked with my head even after I'm dead?!"

Bomber had no idea who she was referring to, but hated to see her cry regardless. Shade kept crying in front of him, doing her best to try and stop, but all she could do was get angry.

"That bastard took everything from me!" she sobbed, with this outrage coming from seemingly from nowhere. "He fucked me like I was some damn piece of meat! I swore never again! _Never_ again! No more men! But then _you_ come along, making me actually start to freaking like you! I'm supposed to be in charge, god dammit! Not you! Not him! Not anybody!"

Bomber saw just how much pain was in Shade's eyes. Nobody had actually taken the time to get to know her past. Even if it was only a small piece of it, Bomber felt for her, feeling sorry about whatever it was that happened when she was still alive and human. With his large wings, he wrapped them around her, giving her a large hug.

"It's okay Shade." he told her. She shook her head, mashed up against him by his wings with her arms down by her sides.

"It's not okay!" she cried. "This isn't supposed to happen! I'm suppose to be in charge of how I feel! I'm supposed to in charge of everything in my life!"

Bomber refused to let go of her, still hugging Shade like the caring person he was.

"I'm here for you." he told her. "And I'm not going to let you hurt like this anymore."

Shade kept crying as she felt his wings hug tightly around her. She looked up at him, frowning as if she hated him. Without warning, she moved her hands up to his head with Bomber's eyes widening as she kissed his beak, refusing to let go. Even if it was only his beak, Bomber felt like his body melted in her hands. She moved her head back, still looking pissed.

"Thanks a lot, you stupid bird!" she yelled. "I fucking love you! I hope you're happy with yourself!"

Bomber moved forward, kissing her once again with his beak as she was still being hugged by him. Shade was still crying, though couldn't help but feel better when Bomber was holding her. He moved his head back, staring at her with soft eyes.

"I love you too, my sexy ghost lover." he told her. Shade lowered her head, leaning it against him. She stopped crying, though with a few more tears falling down from her face and onto the hallway floor that they were standing in.

"I didn't think I actually liked you..." Shade told him with a sniffle. "I was only joking with you before, but... fuck it, I don't know. Maybe I'm just losing my grip and turning into the same helpless, whiny bitch I was when I was still alive..."

There was a quietness that overcame the two of them, soon with Shade fading through Bomber and entering his body.

"_I swear to god,_" she told him in his mind. "_If you tell __**anyone**__ I actually love you I'm gonna lose my shit and make you pay! You understand me?!"_

"_Okay Shade," _Bomber thought back to her, heading back to the suite room. "_I promise I won't tell anyone that you love me._"

It was quiet in his mind for a second.

"_Thank you_." she suddenly thought to him. "_You didn't have to make me feel better, you know._"

"_But I'm you're avian lover._" he reminded her with a mental laugh. "_It's my job..._"

Bomber didn't hear anything, though could feel Shade doing something in his mind.

"_Are you a really still a virgin?_" She asked him suddenly, rooting around in his memories. Bomber was flustered by such a personal question, though knew he couldn't hide the answer from her since she was searching through his brain already.

"_And what if I am?"_ he asked her defensively. He felt Shade grow almost happy inside him.

"_I'll be sure to change that soon..._" she thought back to him, making Bomber visibly blush. He wanted to think that she was only joking, but something in the way she thought about it made him feel otherwise...

_**Darrell**_ finally made it to the home he was supposed to collect the debt from. He hadn't been told how much nor from who, only that everything was on the level. There wouldn't be any need to beat, harass, or punish anyone for the payment. That alone answered all the questions Darrell honestly cared around. Now standing outside the home with red flowers, he knocked on the side of the home, waiting for a response.

The sushi place next door was open for business, having a Tentacool picture on the front entrance like Hugo had said. It was still raining, now starting to pick up again. Darrell was starting to wonder if it would ever stop. His thoughts were interrupted with the door sliding open.

Standing before him was a woman who wore a red kimono with outlines of flowers on it. Her face was beautiful with her hair being long and black and her eyes being a light brown. Around her neck hung a heart pendant, being as red as her kimono was. She greeted him with a faint smile with Darrell only able to stare, completely baffled by how beautiful she was.

"Hello." she said to him. Darrell was too busy staring at her face, forgetting he was on business momentarily.

"H-hello." he told her. "I'm here to collect payment for Hugo."

The woman nodded, frowning, but seemed civil enough. She moved aside for Darrell to come in. He took off his shoes, entering inside her home, slightly wet from the rain.

She had a humble home with very little in it with the exception of a small table with a tea pot and small cups on it. Darrell politely sat down at the table on his knees with the woman doing the same. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, baffled by her beauty. The woman began to pour tea for both her and him, doing so gracefully.

"You seem calm." Darrell said finally. "You must not be attached the the payment you have to give."

At this the woman smiled, handing over the cup of tea to Darrell with a weak smile.

"I _am_ the payment." she told him.

Darrell nearly dropped his tea.

She weakly smiled back at him, taking a small sip from her cup.

"My brother was unable to keep up with his payments," she explained to him. "so as a consistence for his actions, I am forced to work at the establishment your boss owns."

That was like hearing her say her own death sentence. Darrell held the tea weakly, not sure how she was able to be so calm about such a messed up situations.

"For how long?" Darrell asked, praying it wasn't as bad as he feared, though should have known better than to expect a happy answer.

"Until I pay off my brothers debt," she told him. "which I know I will never be able to pay off completely."

Darrell frowned at her, almost sickened.

"Might I ask how this is your fault?" he inquired. "Why must you pay for something your brother has done?"

She smiled a him calmly, acting very accepting of all of this.

"Life is never fair." she told him. "We simply must work with what we are dealt. I am forced to live the rest of my life as my life working for your boss. That is just how it works."

Darrell frowned, staring at his tea. He was the first to admit that he'd done some things he wasn't proud of in his life, but this was truly the lowest of the low in his opinion. He sighed, holding the tea that she had gave him in both hands, lowering it down near his lap.

"I take no pride in my job," Darrell told her. "but I have no choice to do it."

The woman smiled at him warmly.

"And I understand." she told him kindly. Both of them said nothing with the sound of the rain outside echoing in the home. The steam coming from the tea felt warm as it rose to Darrell's cold face.

"You have a very lovely home." Darrell told her, followed by a sip of tea. "I've rarely seen anyone with flowers outside their home here in Pewter city."

The woman smiled at him pleasantly, still sitting on her knees like he was.

"Thank you." she told him with her soft voice sounding soothing to Darrell. "I've always loved flowers, even when I was a young child. I would pick them and put them in vases for my mother and father to see. Those were very good times."

Darrell looked at her feeling saddened. None of this was fair for her. She didn't deserve a fate like this. How the hell was any of this be allowed to happen?

"May I ask what your name is?" she questioned. Darrell was surprised she cared.

"My name is Darrell." he told her sincerely. "I wish we were meeting on different terms instead of me having to take you back to the Candy Club. Might I know yours?"

"Athena." She told him sweetly. Her name alone was beautiful.

"That's a lovely name for a lovely woman." he told her. She smiled at him, feeling touched that he would be so kind as to complement her.

"Most men from Team Rocket aren't known for being so kind, are they?" she asked. Darrell shook his head at her.

"I take pride in the fact that I'm not one of those men anymore." he told her seriously. Darrell suddenly sighed, looking down at his tea. "It's sad that for the past few months though I've been trying to get back in. Or at least _was_. I can't remember why I wanted to be associated with them in the first place. It was all so horrific and bloody. I guess maybe I was just trying to be someone; make a name for myself."

Athena nodded her head, kindly sympathizing with him.

"I can understand that." she told him. Darrell shook his head.

"You wouldn't be so kind to me if you knew what I've done." he told her, remembering all of the people he killed. "I have so much blood on my hands it isn't funny."

Athena looked at him, not in condemnation, rather, with understanding and kindness.

"Everyone has done things they've regretted." She told him. Darrell just laughed to himself, shaking his head at the things he had done.

"I've killed kids, tortured people, slit throats, along with too many other things I'd prefer to forget." Darrell told her, opening up to a total stranger. "I can't be forgiven for what I've done."

He glanced up, seeing Athena's understanding smile.

"Anyone can be forgiven." she told them. "They only need to accept that they are _worth_ to be forgiven in the first place."

Darrell thought about it, soon shaking his head as the rain continued to pour outside.

"Nothing I do could ever convince me of that." he told her honestly. Athena simply smiled at him, having hope in Darrell, even if he didn't have hope in himself.

"I hope you will someday." she told him. "You seem like a very nice man."

Darrell didn't respond, only staring at the tea in his hands.

The two of them sat there and conversed a while before finally leaving.


	53. Chapter 53

_**Chapter 53**_

_**A**_ bead of sweat ran down Emie's forehead, edging it's way down her fur and over her scar where her coin should have been. As instructed, she stood there motionlessly, holding two large and heavy pots with each hand in a squatting position. Master Nagato was drinking tea, which he'd been doing most of their training session. When he wasn't drinking tea he would be hitting her with the stick he kept by his side, sitting on the floor in front of her.

Falling down to the floor was the sweat bead, landing just like the others before it. Emie had forgotten how long she had been in that position. Master Nagato had been putting her through grueling exercises that entire day, now with it growing dark. Hours of one hand push ups, standing in straining positions, doing squats, sit ups, the list went on.

With one hand on his wooden stick and his other holding his tea, Master Nagato hit Emie's inner leg, making her wobble and almost fall.

"Keep your stance low." he told her. "Arching your back will not be tolerated either."

The pain in her arms and legs was so intense that Emie stopped breathing. She was more focused on combating the strain than taking in air. Master Nagato whacked the side of her ribcage as he sat on the floor still, making Emie gasp from the blow.

"Breathe, you good for nothing Meowth." Nagato told her sternly. "Are you so stupid that you not only forget the proper stance but you also forget to _breathe_?"

Emie's teeth bared with her eyes closing. It felt like her knees were going to explode from the pressure of holding herself and the heavy pots in that position. Her core felt like it was on fire. Master Nagato drank his tea leisurely, listening to the sound of the rain along with Emie's occasional grunt of pain. The feeling of collapsing grew too strong, with Emie falling face forward.

She landed with the pots actually staying in tact from the fall. Emie however felt like she had broken into a million little pieces. Every part of her body hurt, even places she didn't know _could_ hurt. Master Nagato raised his stick, whacking her on the back of the head as she laid there motionlessly.  
"Is that all you could do?" he told her condescendingly. "I should have expected a worthless female would fail my expectations. At this rate you will never even come close to becoming a shinobi!"

Emie couldn't move, starting to cry silently as her face was planted on the floor. She hurt so bad that she couldn't physically move. Master Nagato stood up, walking away from her with his tea still in hand, leaving the wooden stick on the floor.

"We will try this again tomorrow." he told her. "Be here by sunrise."

Master Nagato left her, exiting through another door as Emie continued to lay there in pain, still silently crying to herself. It even hurt to cry.

"_**Bastard!**_" Otto growled, playing a fighting game against Doug. "Quit doing those stupid low kicks; those are cheap shots and you know it!"

Doug laughed, doing the same kick move over and over again. The two of them were sitting on the couch, with Clara sitting in Otto's lap, every now and then looking from the controller to the TV screen where the action was going on. She was completely content with watching her trainer play, fascinated by the colorful lights.

Rachel was holding her Nidoran, who she still had yet to name, standing next to the window in the main suite room, watching the rain run down the window pane. She pet her Nidoran as she held him near her chest, having her mind heavy with troubling thoughts. It seemed like her brain wouldn't let her settle down. Laurence naturally would have asked her what was wrong, but he had already left to go pick up Emie.

Shade was sitting on the couch with her head lowered. She was still frustrated with herself for crying like she did when Bomber approached her. As for Bomber, he was keeping his distance from her, sitting behind the couch, knowing that she probably needed it for the time being. Sitting next to Shade was Sissy, watching as Doug and Otto played games. Matt had actually gone to bed early, saying he wasn't feeling to good. The beating Gavin had given him had still drained a lot out of Matt, even if a day had already passed since then.

Everyone for the most part was in a melancholy mood thanks to the rain and events that had been taken place recently. The only ones who were actually happy were the Nidoran and Clara. Maybe they were just too little to understand the stress at the time.

"How do you keep blocking my hits?!" Otto said, getting frustrated.

"Only a combo move can break my defense." Doug said cockily, knowing all too well Otto hadn't the slightest clue how to do any of them.

"This is ridiculous..." Otto grumbled. Clara kept watching him press the buttons, mashing them desperately to try and finish Doug off, but with little success. Little, innocent Clara wanted to join in on the fun, reaching for the controller. Her little paw touched one of the buttons with her cheeks lighting up and sparking.

"Pikachu~!" she giggled, suddenly with an accidental shock coming from her. It was so unexpected, yet so powerful, sending a wave of energy into the controller, down it's wire, and into the game stations. There was a loud popping sound with the game console literally exploded. Everyone naturally ducked and covered their heads with the TV now going black.

Clara instantly realized she had made a mistake, lowering her ears and head as she sat in her trainers lap, who was so baffled that his mouth was hanging open. Otto pushed his glasses back onto his nose, staring at the fuming mess which had used to be his gaming console.

"I guess we're back to watching TV now..." Doug said, with Otto and everyone still in shock.

"Did...Clara do that?" Rachel said, on the other side of the room, yet just as surprised.

"She seems like she's full of surprises." Sissy stated, watching as Clara looked like she was about to start crying.

"Pi...Pika...chu?" she muttered sadly, with Otto looking down at her with a sigh.

"I guess she is." he said. Innocent Clara put her little paws on her head, still with her ears folded down. She did her best to hide her face from everyone as she looked down at the controller she had accidentally zapped.

"Ch_uuu_..." she sniffled, soon getting emotional. Otto pat her head that she so desperately tried to hide from everyone.

"It's okay, Clara." Otto told her. "You didn't mean to do it. Doug and I have been hogging the TV long enough anyway."

"Damn right you have." Shade grumbled, reaching for the remote and turning on the TV. It was obvious that she was still upset about everything, but nobody asked what was wrong. There had been enough drama and the best thing to do was to ignore anymore of it. She flipped to a channel with people cooking on it. Rachel turned her head to the sounds of sizzling fish, swearing while she stood near the window.

"Shit," she said. "I forgot we needed to go shopping, assuming I can even freaking afford anything for all of us that'll last."

Doug turned on the couch with everyone watching TV.

"I could help pay." he told her. "I still have the money I got from Darrell and I's old job."

Rachel's face lit up, with the Nidoran happy to see her happy.

"Really?" Rachel said sounding more positive. "That would help out a lot. Things have just been sorta tight now with Matt losing all of his money to Jimmy and myself running short on cash."

"I would be more than happy to help." Doug told her sympathetically. "You're the one who gave us a place to stay after all. Would you want to go out tonight."

Rachel glanced outside, staring at the rain coming down the window.

"Nah," she told him, "it's too dark and I'm sure half of the places that sell food are closed for the night anyway. Would early tomorrow morning sound alright."

"Sounds perfect." Doug told her with a smile.

Shade flipped the channel, finding nothing interesting. Frustrated, she threw down the remote with the channel on some talk show.

"Isn't there _anything_ on?" she said irritated. "I'm sick and tired of all of these channels, but with nothing good."

Matt's bedroom door opened. He stumbled out with only his pants on, bare chested, having his phone up to his ear.

"Yeah, man." Matt responded. "I'll let him know. Where are you exactly?"

He waited for the response on the other line.

"Okay..." Matt once again responded, not getting a straight answer from whoever it was on the other line. "Thanks for checking up on us. I hope work's going well."

The sound of a laugh could be heard on the other end of the phone that Matt held up to his ear.

"Bye." Matt told whoever it was, closing the phone with his eyes squinted from waking up recently. Everyone had been staring at his chest, seeing just how bad it looked. There were countless bruises and marks that showed to have been recent, making his 'ran into a door' story seem like bullshit again.

"Who was that?" Doug asked. Matt rubbed his eyes, cleaning the sleepy goop from them both.

"It was Darrell calling to say he's not going to be home tonight." Matt told him. "He said he needed to help some lady get settled in- whatever the hell that meant."

"Lady?" Sissy said, wondering if it was meant to be suggestive. "What kind of lady."

"I dunno." Matt said. "He just said he needed to help her."

Sissy suddenly started to smile, having dirty thoughts for some reason come to mind. Matt raised his eyebrow at her, surprised that she of all people would have their mind in the gutter.

"You pervert." he told her. Sissy ignored him. Shade however thought of a good way to have some fun, soon having a smile appear on her palish purple face. Whatever was going through her mind, Bomber knew it was no good.

"Okay," Shade said, "I've got a random question for everyone. How often does everyone here masturbate? Just curious."

A majority of the room looked at Shade almost disgusted by how she could ask such a question. Little Clara and the Nidoran obviously no idea what Shade was asking, being too innocent for such talk.

"Damn, Shade!" Otto said almost blushing. "There's a thing called privacy!"

Sissy felt the urge to scoot away from Shade, not even wanting to be close to her after such a question. Shade looked at everyone, not getting why they were so up tight about it.

"Oh come on," she told them. "it's not the big of a deal. Fine, I'll answer first. Assuming I haven't already done something with someone that day, I masturbate daily. Sometimes multiple times a day if the mood's right."

Doug looked squeamish from hearing that.

"I don't think any of us needed to hear that, Shade." Doug told her. Shade rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh.

"If you guys don't tell me, then I'll find out for myself. I _am_ a Ghost Pokemon, remember? It's not hard for me to root inside your minds. Please just save me the trouble and answer the question."

Bomber was staring at Shade a little perplexed. He had heard the word before when he was still living with his old owner in the psychiatrist office. People had talked about it, but Bomber never really understood what they were actually discussing.

Matt sighed, knowing that Shade wasn't bluffing about rooting around in their minds.

"I guess that depends." Matt admitted, with everyone surprised that he was going to answer such a ridiculously inappropriate question. "Normally I say every other day, but ever since I've been on this little adventure I got thrown in I haven't actually done it. The only time I've gotten off has been when I've actually had sex."

Sissy blushed hardcore, feeling as if everyone was staring at her. Shade smiled with approval at his answer, looking over to Otto with a haughty grin as he held Clara in his lap.

"How 'bout you?" she asked him. Otto blushed.

"I don't see how that's any of your concern." Otto told her, blushing behind his round glasses. Shade smirked at him, as if reading his mind.

"Why do I get the feeling you masturbate on a daily basis too?" she asked rhetorically. Otto pulled his head back, turning away from her. He was now even redder in the face than before.

"And so what if I did?" he said almost spitefully. Clara looked up at her trainer, confused as to why he looked so embarrassed all of a sudden.

"Pikachu?" Clara said to him, as if to ask what was wrong. Shade couldn't help but to snicker at Otto's squirming.

"That's a yes if I ever heard one." Shade laughed. Otto didn't respond in anyway, only looking guilty as hell as he hid his face from everyone. She looked over to Doug, who instantly tensed up.

"And what about you?" She asked. "I can only imagine how often _you_ do it."

"That's none of your business!" Doug said very defensively. Shade laughed at him.

"You better tell me or I'm gonna make you say it!" Shade laughed, enjoying herself now. Nothing like asking awkward questions to make Shade happy it seemed. Doug blushed, knowing he was going to have to say something. If he didn't, there was a chance she'd root through his mind, finding things he didn't want _anybody_ to know.

"F-fine..." he mumbled. "I do it...sometimes..."

Shade started grinning even more, leaning forwards on the couch.

"That's not gonna cut it." she told him. "We're talking about actually figures and numbers, not just 'sometimes' or 'maybes.'"

Doug sighed, visibly blushing in front of everyone.

"Once a month..." he told her, unable to look anyone in the eye. "Sometimes once every two months..."

Shade blinked, as if she had misheard him.

"Damn," she said surprised. "how could you live like that?!"

Doug didn't respond, hiding his face now just like Otto was. Matt was still standing near his door with his shirt off, not really bothered with opening up about his sexual history. It wasn't really that big of a deal to him at all. Shade suddenly turned her head in the direction of Rachel, who sternly looked back at her.

"About every three days," Rachel told her boldly, cutting to the chase. "if you must know."

Rachel's hardened expression took the fun out of it, with Shade mostly enjoying how awkward everyone else was about it. She sighed, turning to Sissy, who's ears naturally folded back.

"What about you, sexy hips?" Shade asked. Matt had never heard Shade call Sissy 'sexy hips' before, although was fitting. Sissy did have really nice hips though. Not to mention a really nice butt... Matt shook his head, realizing that his thoughts were going towards the gutter as well.

Sissy just shook her head. Shade looked at her amused.

"You've gotta tell me." Shade told her. "That's the rule. We're all opening up; think of this as a bounding experience."

Sissy put her hands in her lap, not comfortable at all. Matt looked at Shade, shaking his head at her.

"Come one, Shade," he told her, "enough is enough."

Shade grumpily looked Matt, crossing her arms.

"That's no fair!" she told him. "Everyone has to say how often they do it."

Bomber sighed, feeling bad for Sissy. Whatever the hell this 'masturbation' thing was, he knew it was clearly a touchy subject (no pun intended). Taking one for the team once again, he decided to take the attention off of Sissy, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"What exactly _is_ maturation?" Bomber asked. Everyone turned their heads towards Bomber, all with the same surprised expression. He looked back at them as if he had missed a meeting about it or something. "What?..."

"You seriously don't know?..." Otto said, almost not believing Bomber could be so naïve about something like that. Bomber shook his head.

"I honestly don't have a clue what it is."

"But you're a guy..." Shade told. "You should know what that is..."

"Gender roles much?" Rachel responded irritably to Shade, getting annoyed with her. First she asks an incredibly personal and inappropriate question like that, then she was going to start stereotyping? Two things that Rachel hated.

"Nobody's told me what it is before." Bomber told her honestly with a shrug of his wings, still sitting behind the couch with his large head sticking over the back of it. Shade blinked, soon feeling empowered to explain everything to him.

"Masturbation is where you take your hand or-"

Otto clamped his hands over Clara's ears, not wanting her to hear it. Little Clara blinked, watching as Shade started using weird hand motions. She was taking her hand and moving it up and down, leaving an opening with her thumb and her other finger, creating a whole. Clara watched her lips move, soon with her hand making a V like shape with her fingers, rubbing her other hand fingers up and down, sometimes going in between them, and motioning at the top of it as if rubbing a small nob or button. Having no idea what she was saying, Clara watched as Otto continued to cover her ears. Feeling safe to let go of them, Otto moved his hands away from her ears with Shade still going on about the explanation she was giving to Bomber.

"-all depends on the girl though." Shade continued with a serious voice. "Sometimes they might use there hand or something that's kinda shaped like a dick. Does that explain it?"

Bomber's beak hung open with her face completely red behind his feathers.

"I...didn't know you could do something like that by _yourself_..." Bomber told her. Shade smiled, gaining seductive smile.

"Want me to show you how it's done?" she told him with a wink. Normally Bomber would have came back with something. However, dealing with something so foreign and so... surprising, he was completely flustered. He backed away from behind the couch as Shade raised her hand mischievously.

"And now to show you what a handjob is!" she laughed. Shade leapt in the air (with her ability to float and fly aiding her), landing on Bomber's back, straddling him like a horse. Bomber like out a yelp, panicking all around the room as Shade hugged him around the neck.

"Don't fight it , my avian lover!" She told him with a laugh. "It'll be worth it!"

"GAH!" Bomber started flapping his wings about as if to throw her off. It didn't work.

Matt put his hand on his head, feeling exhausted as the sounds of Bomber panicking and Shade laughing childishly were made

"It's too late for this..." he mumbled to himself.

The front door opened, making Bomber stop running around the room and Shade stop laughing. The sight of seeing Laurence carrying Emie in both of his arms made everyone quiet. Emie's eye's were hardly opened with her limbs limply hanging around. If you didn't know any better you'd assume she was a paraplegic. Matt and everyone watched as Laurence walked around to the rectangular "C' shape couch, setting her down on part of it. She didn't move or say anything with Laurence standing over her.

"The first day is always the hardest, I suppose." Laurence told her, as if to be comforting. Emie didn't say anything. She was in her red tank top and short shorts again, though wasn't wearing her pink belled collar. Laurence reached into his suit pocket, pulling it out and handing it over to Matt as he approached him.

"She seems to not want to wear it." Laurence told him sounding a little saddened. "The day has been rough on her; I would not take it personally."

"Is she alright?" Rachel asked with Emie just staring up at the ceiling, not moving at all. Laurence nodded to his mistress.

"Emie is just in a lot of pain." Laurence told them. "Rest is what her body needs right now."

Matt looked at Emie with a frown, feeling hurt that she didn't want to wear her collar. Her face looked so lifeless with he only expression being depression and pain.

"Emie..." he said softly. "Are you still mad at me?..."

Emie didn't respond, simply blinking sluggishly as she stared up at the ceiling. Matt sighed, looking sadly at her.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Emie..." he told her. "And I'm sorry you're still mad at me..."

Emie didn't say a word to him, just staring at the ceiling. Matt let out a nose sigh, walking away from her with his arms by his sides, knowing there was nothing he could do or say to make her not mad at him. He made his way to his room, still holding Emie's collar in his hand.

"I'm gonna go back to bed." he told everyone very somberly. "Night guys..."

He closed the door weakly behind him with everyone not knowing what to say. Shade had an idea, hopping off of Bomber and skipping her way over to the side of the couch Emie was lying on. She leaned over the back of it, looking down at Emie who in return looked back with a very lost look in her eye. Shade smiled, playfully poking Emie's nose.

"Wanna have some fun tonight?" she asked her with a rascally wink. "That might relax those tired muscles of yours. I'll do all the work if you want me to."

Emie's catlike muzzle crinkled, giving Shade the scariest and most nasty look she'd ever given anyone.

"Meowth-owth..." she hissed, literally translating to: **go die**. Needless to say, Shade's playful expression turned into one of fright, backing the hell away from the couch. Bomber, who had also heard what Emie said, thought he'd try to make Emie feel better. He walked around the couch, looking happily at Emie. He moved his wing out slightly above her head.

"Uh-oh!" Bomber said as if playing with a small child. "I'm-ma boop you on the head!"

He slowly moved his wing down, touching her head with it.

"Boop!" he said to her, raising his wing to see her unamused face. She moved her eyes in his direction. Even that hurt her to do.

"Meow-_ur_-mow-m_ur_-Meowth..." she grumbled darkly, translating into: **Emie will **_**eat**_** Bird**_**ie**_** if Bird**_**ie**_** ever does that again...**

Bomber sheepishly backed away. Little Clara could see how upset Emie was, wanting to cheer her up. She wiggled out of Otto's grasp, waddling across the couch, stepping over Doug's legs, then hopping back down on the couch with a giggle. Otto nearly panicked when Clara put her little paws on Emie's stomach, poking her.

To make things more stressful to watch, Clara climbed up on Emie, starting to jump up and down on her. Emie clenched her eyes closed in pain with a grunt escaping.

"Pikachu!" Clara giggled. With one hand, Emie reached up and grabbed Clara by the head with a nasty popping sound coming from her shoulder. Emie lifted Clara off of her, moving her over to the couch and dropping her down.

"Meowth..." Emie told her sternly as if to tell her to stop, still looking up at the ceiling. Clara's ears folded backwards, looking sad. She lowered her head, waddling back over to Otto as if she had failed. Sissy watched as Emie lay there, unable to feel anything but guilt. With the uncomfortable feeling in the room, Sissy grabbed the remote, flipping through the channels again, hoping to find something to cheer everyone up.

With little avail, she found nothing.

_**Darrell**_ was still in the Candy Club, having used the telephone there to inform Matt he wasn't going to be home that night. Sitting at the bar, he was having a beer after a long, shitty day. After bringing Athena there, she had been assigned to a room, now officially being a sex slave for the establishment. It made Darrell sick to his stomach. When Darrell had led her to her assigned room, she had asked him kindly to stay with her for the night. Athena's life had been completely stripped away from her, and if all she was asking for was to have someone comfort her for a single night, sitting by her side and talking to her, then he was more than happy to give her that. It was the least he could do for all the shit he had done to others that day.

He asked Hugo if that was alright, feeding him line about wanting to 'test the slut out and make sure her worthless pussy could even handle him.' That entire sentence felt like Darrell was gargling acid, but if he didn't say it then Hugo would most likely catch on that he wasn't the cold hearted son of a bitch he led on to be. Naturally, Hugo said it was fine, giving Darrell a 'free fucking' for his job well done that day. All he had to do was wait for them to set the room up for her, 'opening it up for business,' as Hugo said.

With each day that had passed, Darrell felt less and less like a human being. Every morning he would wake up, feeling as if he had lost a small chunk of humanity, bit by bit. He was slowly turning into a damn monster. Darrell took a drink of his beer at the bar counter of the main floor of the Candy Club, unable to fully block out the noises of woman being treated like shit. The image of Laurence popped into Darrell's mind.

"I'm slowly turning into that _thing_." Darrell said to himself half jokingly, knowing whatever Laurence had done was terrible. Then again, was Darrell really any better?

"What'd you say?" the bartender asked irritably. Darrell looked up from his beer, glaring at the bartender just as annoyed.

"I didn't say anything." Darrell told him. "I was talking to myself."

"But you said something." The bartender told him sounding pissed off, as if Darrell was talking behind his back. "So what the fuck was it?"

Darrell was real sick of everybody's shit, wondering how the hell had managed to stay sane while working for Team Rocket in the past. Most likely because he was too busy killing people to notice how damn annoying they were.

"I said I was minding my own fucking business," Darrell snapped. "so why don't you do the same, you overbearing son of a bitch."

The bartender gave Darrell another dirty look. He could only imagine what that asshole was thinking. Maybe if Darrell had a few more beers in him he'd have started something. Too bad he was still sober, he thought to himself. He took another drink, staring down the bartender, who finally turned his back on Darrell to go back to organizing the glasses on the top shelf.

Darrell soon went back to his thoughts with the soothing sounds of music playing mixed with a yell of ecstasy coming from guy as a sex slave was servicing him with her mouth. Those two things just didn't go together. He clenched his eyes closed, unable to shut the noises out of his head, with them echoing in his perfect ears.

"She's all set for a pussy pounding." Hugo chuckled, wobbling into the main room of the Candy room. Darrell turned his head, seeing his boss have the biggest grin on his face with a few other members of Team Rocket by his side. "She's all yours."

Darrell forced a smile, standing up from his bar stool.

"Better break that bitch in." Darrell said, making himself laugh even when he wanted to scream on the inside. Hugo nodded with a belly-jiggling laugh.

"I bet." Hugo told him. "She's on the third floor in room nine; the same one you took her too."

Darrell nodded his head at Hugo, then shot one last nasty look at the bartender before heading to the staircase of the place, making his way up to the third floor.

After a little stair climbing, Darrell entered the top level of the Candy club, seeing a long hallway with doors on both sides. He slowly began to walk down it, looking at all of the room numbers. Each door he got close enough to, he could hear very faint grunting and groaning noises. Darrell forced himself to ignore them. It's nothing, he told himself. Those people in the rooms being taken advantage of meant nothing to him. He finally made it to room nine, putting his hand on the doorknob. Darrell opened the door, looking inside.

In the back of the room was a humongous bed in the shape of a heart with unlit candles everywhere around the room. There were some on the dresser, some next to the stripper pole, and even some near the sex toys set out on display on a stand. Athena was sitting on the bed with her hands on her lap, actually smiling when she saw Darrell come in. She was still in her red kimono.

"I'm glad you could stay." she told him, seeming a little embarrassed by her request. "It's probably ridiculous to force you to stay the night with a total stranger, I know."

"It's alright." Darrell told her, still standing near the door, closing it behind him. "I can understand that this is a hard adjustment. To be honest, I can't understand how you can be so optimistic about all of this happening."

Athena lowered her head, giving as subtle sigh.

"It isn't very easy," she told him. "but I at least have to try to stay positive and hope that things don't turn out as bad as I might think they will. When you have nothing left, all you can do is hope." Athena started to laugh very sweetly, making Darrell wonder what was so amusing. "Maybe my angel will come to protect me."

"Angel?" Darrel said confused, making his way slowly over to the large bed. He sat down next to her, looking at her hands that she rested in her lap. They were beautiful just like everything else about her. Athena nodded, with another laugh escaping from her. She reached for the locket in the shape of a heart around her neck.

"My mother and father gave this to me when I was a child." Athena explained to him. "They told me that if I wore it, my guardian angel would protect me. I always thought it was silly; I knew they were just trying to make me feel safe in uncertain times. Still though, it was a nice fantasy to know that there would be someone watching over me." She looked at him, suddenly feeling shy. "You probably think I sound ridiculous."

Darrell shook his head quickly, assuring her the opposite.

"I don't think that sounds ridiculous at all." he told her. "I could understand how that would bring comfort to someone."

Athena smiled, holding her heart shaped locket.

"Wouldn't it be nice if it were true?" she joked. Darrell smiled at her, still sitting by her side.

"Who knows." he told her trying to stay positive. "Maybe it is true."

The two of them shared a laugh, listening to the rain pouring outside. It didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon. The rest of that night for Darrell and Athena was spent talking, getting to know each other, with Darrell doing his best to comfort her in such a delicate time.

_**Matt**_ was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring out the window as it rained as it had pretty much ever since they had arrived. In his hand was Emie's collar with his thumb motioning back and forth over it. His mind was heavily in thought, not sure what time it was. It was late; that was all he knew. Neither Bomber, Shade, nor Sissy had come to inside the room to sleep yet. Shade was most likely going to sleep out on the couch like she normally did, but with Emie in the mood she was in, he wasn't sure. Bomber should have come in by now though along with Sissy.

As if summoned by the thought of her, Sissy entered the room with light footing. The first thing she noticed was Matt sitting on the bed, watching it rain outside as he held Emie's collar. Never had Sissy felt so damn guilty before, and why? Because she had finally gotten what she wanted? No, what she **deserved**! Still, she felt bad, even if it was Emie who was miserable. She knew what it was like...

"Hey." Sissy said softly, making Matt glance over to her. He had bags under his eyes. Or maybe it was the bruising on his face that looked like bags.

"Hey." he responded, giving her a half smile. "Where's Shade and Bomber?"

"Believe it or not, they're sleeping behind the couch." Sissy told him. Matt gave her a funny look, as if not sure if Sissy was telling the truth. Sissy just nodded her head, laughing to herself momentarily. "Yeah, I know. Bomber's sleeping on the floor with Shade sleeping inside him."

"I will never understand those two." Matt laughed. "If you didn't know any better you'd think they were a couple."

Sissy made her way over to the bed, sitting down next to him with a sigh.

"At least they don't have a third wheel if they were." Sissy joked, sighing. "It's not fair. When Emie was happy, I was miserable and now that I'm happy, _she's_ miserable. She might be a complete idiot, but she doesn't deserve to be like this."

Matt didn't say anything, putting his hand on Sissy's leg.

"I know," Matt told Sissy, "but that doesn't change the fact that I love you." he sighed, giving her leg a comforting squeeze, though was more arousing than it was comforting, even if Sissy wasn't going to admit it. "Maybe if I were two people, _then_ everyone could be happy."

Sissy looked down at the floor, letting out another sigh as the two of them sat in the dark with the sound of raindrops hitting the window.

"Do you regret meeting me?" Sissy asked, making Matt wonder why she would ask such a question. Matt looked at her, not sure if she were joking or not. If she was, it wasn't funny.

"Why would you say such a thing?" Matt asked her sounding sad. "Of course I don't regret meeting you."

Sissy shrugged, not convinced.

"At least Emie treated you well. The first time I met you I was trying to chop you in half."

"Only because you thought I was some intruder." Matt reminded her. "It wasn't you fault."

"What about me being stubborn with you?" Sissy went on. "I've caused you more harm than good, I can safely say that."

Matt shook his head, putting his arm around Sissy, pulling her close to hug her, still with Emie's collar in his other hand.

"Don't say that." he told her sincerely. "I love you and that's all that matters."

Sissy didn't say anything, looking at Matt as their faces were already close due to Matt hugging her. She smiled, giving him a loving kiss. Hey held the kiss there for a while with Matt rubbing Sissy's side as he held her. Sissy felt a shiver go up her spine. Matt suddenly pulled his head back, having a question enter his mind.

"By the way," he told her, "assuming you don't mind me asking, how often _do_ you actually...you know...masturbate?..."

Sissy blushed, slightly averting her eye sight with him, staring at his chest. She got really quiet.

"Once..." she told him. Matt blinked, now curious.

"Only once?" he asked her surprised. "Haven't you ever been sexually frustrated?"

Sissy shrugged, clearly embarrassed. Matt started laughing.

"Maybe that's why you were so moody when Emie and I were getting along with each other."

Sissy shook her head.

"That would be impossible... the one time I did it _was_ when you and Emie were together. Do...do you remember when we went to that pizza restaurant? And Emie told me that you and her had...had relations with each other?"

Matt nodded, still holding Sissy close to him. She started blushing even more.

"That night I was in bed, jealous of the two of you. I...cried myself to sleep, but woke up in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep and was thinking about you. My mind started imagining what it might have been like if _I_ were the one you had...done stuff with. I started...messing with...things...and...um...did _it_...when I was thinking about you...and me doing...stuff..."

Sissy couldn't bare to look up at Matt. The longer he held her the more she was wondering what he was thinking. She quickly glanced up with her eyes at him, still with her head down and her ears lowered. Matt was actually blushing, not sure what to say. Sissy shook her head, wanting to kick herself for what she had just admitted to him.

"I know..." she told him. "I sound pathetic..."

"No..." Matt told her, holding her still close. "That actually sounds really flattering..."

Sissy looked at him surprised, soon with him planting another kiss on her lips. He moved his head back, showing her that he was happy. He let go of her, leaning over to the nightstand next to the bed to set down Emie's collar, right next to his hat with his jacket laying on the floor. Sissy hugged onto Matt as he moved back into a sitting position, putting her head on his shoulder. Every so often she could feel her tail wag beneath her yukata, even if she was sitting on it.

"Um...Matt?" she said shyly. "Could..." she stopped herself, unable to finish her sentence due to being too shy. Matt wasn't going to have her not say anything, holding her close to her to assure he that whatever it was she wanted to ask was perfectly fine.

"What is it?" he asked her. Sissy wasn't sure how to ask for what she wanted without sounding either dirty or stupid.

"Could we...maybe do...stuff?" she asked him meekly. Matt cocked his head.

"Stuff?" he repeated. Sissy felt like she were defusing a bomb or something by the way she acted when raising such a question. She looked at him very sheepishly.

"You know..." she hinted. "S_tuff..._"

Matt finally figured out what she was getting at, not sure if she were ready for 'stuff' again. He'd rushed it last time, fearing the same consequences.

"Are you sure?" he asked her. Sissy nodded her head eagerly, though was still shy about it all.

"I really am..." she told him blushing. Matt thought about it. It wasn't like he was going to say no to her, but at the same time didn't want to put her in an awkward position. Both figuratively _and_ literally. An idea popped into his head, making him smirk.

"Alright," he told her, "but it's going to be something a little different than last time, okay?"

Sissy looked at him, not sure what he meant. Still, she trusted Matt's judgment, nodding along with him anyway, for better or worse. He kept smiling at her.

"Okay," he told her, "get undressed."

Sissy blushed, hiding her face from him. Even if she wanted to do 'stuff', it was still difficult for her to be naked around Matt. She had been exposed around him multiple times, but was just so self conscious about her figure that she didn't want him to laugh or think that she was ugly. A stupid notion, sure, but she didn't want that possibility to present itself.

Bravely, she stood up, undoing her sash. Matt just sat there, watching as it fell to the floor with her back facing him. She slowly moved her yukata off of her shoulders, with it falling down to the floor as well. Matt stared at her backside with her large tail covering her butt crack. It made him smile.

"Tails," he said, "they're like censer bars, but with fur."

His joke made her shyly laugh, turning to her side with her arms covering over her chest. The fear of her breasts not being large enough was getting to her, making her second guess herself. Maybe doing stuff was a bad idea. Sissy couldn't look Matt in the eye, moving her tail around her and covering her crotch. He could tell just how self conscious she was about her image.

"Sissy," he told her. "you don't have to hide your body from me. If it's because you don't think you're attractive, you're wrong."

He stood up, being right next to her now with her blushing, still unable to look at him. Matt pulled off his white shirt, tossing it to the ground. Tenderly moving his hand to the bottom over her chin, he moved her head up to look at him in the eye. Matt was smiling with his deep eyes looking like they were filled with ocean water.

"I mean, come on," he told her playfully patting his chest, "I've got marks and bruises all over my body."

Sissy found herself staring at his abdominal muscles, blushing.

"But..." Sissy felt herself getting even shyer. "I think you look really...attractive..."

"And I think you're beautiful." Matt told her with a smile. She smiled at him, moving her head towards his and planting a small kiss on his lips. She felt him hold her by the sides like he typically did. His hands were really firm.

"Go ahead and sit on the bed." he told her. Sissy gave a confident nod, doing what she was instructed to do. She sat down, not sure what Matt was planning. He motioned his hand at her. "Move back a little and spread your legs out."

Sissy blushed, doing what he told her to do. With her tail moved to the side of her, she watched as Matt unexpectedly got on his knees, grabbing her thighs. Her eyes widened when she saw him moving his face near she crotch, nearly panicking.

"W-what are you doing?!" she asked him in a state of shock. "You're not going to...put your mouth..._there_, are you?..."

Matt looked at her, finding her nervousness cute.

"I was planning on it." he told her honestly. "What's the problem?"

Sissy looked at him as if imploring him to reconsider such a ludicrous action.

"But...it's dirty down there..." she told him with her ears folding backwards. Matt smiled at her.

"You wash yourself daily, right?"

Sissy looked at him confused.

"Yes, but it's still a dirty place..." She said almost childishly. Matt laughed, taking her by surprised when he moved his face closer to her nether region. She could feel the breath coming from his nose, feeling incredibly embarrassed when she realized he was jokingly smelling her.

"Certainly doesn't smell dirty." he chuckled, being playful with her. "I guess there's only one way to find out."

He suddenly extended his tongue, licking her vaginal lips with Sissy receiving and unexpected amount of pleasure from this. Her eyes closed with a single ear sticking back up with the other still folded back. It was like she was at war with her mind. Half of her was telling her that it was still a dirty thing to do, yet the other half couldn't believe how amazing it felt.

Matt teased her love lips a little more, motioning his tongue up and down, holding her thighs as she squirmed on the bed. Her tail started to move slightly, wiggling a little the more Matt preformed oral on her. Sissy's eyes were still closed, letting in a sharp inhale as Matt's tongue ventured even farther in her orifice.

The feeling of Matt's tongue inside her was almost too much to bare. She guilt horrible for him that he was doing something so dirty to please her, but at the same time was praying he kept doing it. Sissy's heart rate was rising, feeling herself not only getting wet from Matt's saliva, but from her own arousal. She could feel Matt rubbing her thighs, feeling comforted by the touch of his hands as he kept going.

Even if it was a little hard for him to find it with her squirming and jerking every so often from the pleasure, Matt's tongue ventured up from her vaginal canal, heading north to find her clitoris. The closer he got to it the more she moved about, accidentally letting out a cute moan of pleasure. He finally felt a little bump, soon with his tongue working at her special spot. Sissy nearly couldn't handle it.

Her knees slightly buckled inward, momentarily clamping Matt's head between her inner thighs. She wanted to apologize, couldn't speak from the pleasure overwhelming her. Matt didn't act like he minded at all anyway. He found her euphoric facial expressions cute with her moan even more adorable. The feeling of her internal fluid was now on his tongue as he moved it back down to her vaginal walls again. The taste of her moisture made Matt momentarily smirk, not because of how funny it tasted, rather, that he actually enjoyed the taste of it.

Sissy couldn't tell how long Matt had been doing this, nearly in heaven from all of his tongue motions, the way he teased her, and even the way he rubbed her inner legs was driving her over the edge. The more he worked at her the more she felt herself getting closer to finishing. Her breathing increased as the pleasure did.

Her body finally was at it's limit, with Sissy letting out an unintentional gasp-moan. A surge of fluid rushed through her, actually getting Matt's face. Sissy road our her astonishing orgasm with Matt making sure she enjoyed every did of it, even if he had accidentally got some of her juices up his nose from inhaling at the wrong time. Even if he did, he didn't want to tell her then in fear she'd feel sorry for him and want him to stop. Actually, she was so out of her mind from the zen like state that she probably wouldn't have even heard him if he told her.

Sissy started to panting with Matt moving his head back fainlly, smiling up at her.

"Seems like you enjoyed yourself." he told her with a loving wink. Sissy saw the fluid on his face, blushing at how much of it there really was. Had she seriously gotten _that_ excited? Still panting, she watched Matt stand up from his knees, giving her a smile as she walked to the bathroom to clean off his face (not to mention blow his nose).

Sissy sat there with her crotch dampened, still breathing like she had just finished a marathon race. Should she have felt bad that Matt had done that for her? Her mind tossed this question around as she sat there, unsure how to feel. Not even a minute later, Matt exited the bathroom with his face clean and a smug smile. He sat down next to her on the bed, putting his hand on her thigh.

"I'd ask you if that was okay," he told her with a smile, rubbing his hand up and down her leg, "but from the look on your face I think I did a satisfactory job."

Sissy smiled at him, with her ears folding back shyly again.

"That was really nice..." she told him truthfully. She looked at him, seeing that he was still wearing his pants. "Would you...like me to do something like that for you?"

Matt smiled at her weakly, feeling a little embarrassed.

"You...don't _have_ to." he told her. "I'm not going to stop you if you want to though..."

Sissy smiled at Matt with her ears still folded back and her tail wagging on the bed. She gave him a confident nod with a shimmer in her eyes.

"I do." she told him. Matt smiled back at her, now with _him_ feeling shy about oral. He grabbed for the zipper of his pants, unzipping them and standing up. After unbuttoning his jeans, he let his pants drop to the floor, followed by his underwear. He kicked them off of him, sitting down as Sissy assumed the position, getting on her knees in front of him as he sat on the bed.

Matt was already turned on from doing oral on Sissy, admittedly being the kind of person who enjoyed pleasuring others. Sissy stared at his member, seeing it twitch with anticipation. She wasn't sure how to approach the situation, just marveling at his manhood with uncertainty.

"I'm not sure I'm going to be any good at this..." she told him embarrassed. Matt smiled at her, feeling the urge to just tell her to put it in her mouth. It was never fun to be kept waiting with an erection, being teased by the fact that you're only inches away from pleasure.

"It's okay," he told her, "just do what feels natural to you."

Sissy nodded, looking back down at his privates. She was taken by surprise when she saw something clear bubble up from his urethra. Her ears perked up in wonderment, cocking her head to the side unsure as to what it could be. Unaware that Matt was trying to remain patient with her, she actually took her finger, poking at the clear liquid. Matt clenched his teeth, telling himself to hold on.

"What's that?..." she said, still with her interest caught by such a strange discovery.

"It's pre-cum." Matt tried to explain. "It means I'm fairly aroused...as in I'm getting physically impatient."

Sissy instantly caught the drift with her ears folding back.

"I-I'm sorry!" she told him sounding like she had done something fine.

"It's fine..." Matt told her, trying not to sound too anxious. "Just...um...if you're going to do this I'd appreciate it if you started soon. No pressure."

Sissy slowly moved her head towards his unit, stopping for a moment to sniff. Maybe it was karma for him doing it to her, but in actuality, she was aroused by the smell of his musk that was naturally produced by his body. She sniffed once again as her tail started to subtly wag side to side with Matt almost about to tell her to stop stalling.

Sissy suddenly wrapped her lips around the head of his member, motioning downward against him and towards the base of it. Matt let out a grunt from the feeling, though something felt a little off. As nice as it might have been, he realized she wasn't using her tongue, showing just how inexperienced she was. Matt would have laughed if he wasn't so turned on.

"Sweetheart," he told her, "you're doing good, but could you use your tongue? I'm not going to feel it as much if you don't..."

Sissy felt a little stupid for not thinking about doing that. Even for her first blow job, she should have figured out the basic logic, she told herself. Perhaps it was the nerves that made her not think realistically. She began to work her tongue with her lips, at first only sliding it back and forth on the bottom. It felt nice, but she clearly had more learning to do when it came to alternating things.

"Good." Matt told her, holding back from letting out a noise of pleasure. "Now try to move your tongue around a little."

Once again, Sissy felt like a complete idiot. She blushed shyly at him, still with her mouth around his shaft. Not sure how exactly to do it, she told herself to get creative, motioning her tongue around him while she moved her head back and forth. She kept it up, soon learning to every once and a while suck against his member.

Matt let out a long exhale as she kept this up, doing her best to make him enjoy the experience. He closed his eyes, feeling her tongue go over ever inch of his unit. She moved her head all the way forward, now more focused on moving her tongue about than the back and forth motioning. Matt smiled at her, putting his hand on her head and lovingly scratching behind her ear, as if to tell her she was doing a good job.

He was physically starting to feel himself getting closer as Sissy kept sucking, moving her tongue and lips against him. Matt let out a moan by accident, feeling himself getting even closer as she kept this up. It was only a matter of time now.

"Sissy..." he told her. She didn't seem to pay attention to him, more focused on trying to pleasure him like he had done for her. This was her first time giving oral and she wanted it to leave an impression, though was forgetting to anticipate on once thing.

Matt's body tensed, finally cumming into her mouth, whether she wanted him to or not. Sissy awkwardly kept going as more and more of his seed kept filling her mouth. Before she knew it her cheeks were slightly puffed, removing her lips from his manhood. She looked at Matt unsure with a little dabble of his spunk on her lower lip. She made a funny face.

"It tastes funny..." she mumbled, trying to not have it spill out of her mouth. "It's bitter..."

Matt looked at her a little red in the face, not sure what to tell her. It was like she was waiting for him to give an order as to do with his semen in her mouth.

"You don't have to swallow it..." he said to her with a laugh. Sissy quickly got up from the floor, heading towards the bathroom like she couldn't hurry fast enough. The sound of spitting was heard followed by a 'bleh' made Matt laugh. The sink could be heard being turned on along with the sound of gargling water. This went on for a while.

Sissy finally came out of the bathroom afterward with her ears lowered, as if she had done something wrong. She sat beside Matt with her hands in her lap and her with her head lowered.

"I'm sorry..." she apologized. Matt hugged her around the waist.

"For what?" he asked her with his heart still soaring. Sissy looked up at him, still with her ears folded back.

"I didn't do that good of a job, did I?"

Matt started laughing, which Sissy wasn't sure if that were a good or bad thing. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, making her blush.

"For your first time," he told her, "you did actually really well. And you don't have to justify spiting it out; I know it doesn't taste great. I've been told by women that it's an acquired taste."

Sissy smiled at Matt, embracing him too now.

"Thank you for making me feel special." she told him sweetly with her tail wagging behind her. Matt rubbed her back lovingly.

"That's because you _are_ special, Sissy." he told her. Sissy smiled, but soon started frowning when she found herself staring at Emie's collar on the nightstand. In her mind it felt like Emie and her had switched places from a while back. She was now the one making love with Matt with Emie most likely crying herself to sleep.

Sissy wasn't far off, however, Emie hadn't cried herself to sleep that night because it was simply too painful to cry in the first place...


	54. Chapter 54

_**Chapter 54**_

**(With so much to cover involving the story arch in Pewter city, this chapter as well as the others to follow it will be MUCH longer than the previous chapters until the arch has been completed. For those of you who dislike this, forgive me for such lengthy segments. To those of you who **_**do**_**, you're welcome...)**

_**The**_ sound of his phone ringing made Matt open his eyes groggily. He blinked a few times, feeling that Sissy was cuddled up next to him with her hand on his chest and even her knee up on his thigh. God, she was soft. He noticed her ears twitch as his phone kept ringing, though was in too deep of a sleep to be disturbed by it. It came apparent to Matt that she slept better when she was with him. That fact alone was rather flattering. It only felt like yesterday when she hated being around him, now she wanted nothing more than to be with him.

Matt carefully pulled himself away from her with Sissy mumbling something in her sleep, but he didn't hear what it was. He got out of bed, bending over to his pants that were on the side of the bed, next to his shirt and underwear. Completely naked still from the night before, Matt finally got a hold on his phone that was inside his pants pocket, flipping it open and putting it to his ear.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Matt?" a female voice said. "It's Mom."

It had been a while since he had heard from her, smiling to hear her again.

"Hey Mom," he told her. "hows-"

"Are you alright?" she interrupted, sounding very worried. "I just got the news about what happened in Viridian a little while ago. Oh, please tell me Sissy's alright!"

Matt looked over his shoulder, seeing Sissy still fast asleep in the bed. He smiled, sitting back down on the edge of the bed with his back facing her and the phone still up to his ear.

"She's alright." Matt told Mom with a tired scratch of his head. "In fact, she's better now than she has been since she left."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Mom said relieved. "News about what happened has been spreading all over Kanto. People have been saying it's even been on the news."

Matt chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I can't believe people have been talking about it so much." Matt told her. "I've already been getting looks from people like they know me; it's kinda weird."

"Have you two been getting along better?" Mom asked him, jumping to another topic.

Matt started chuckling once again.

"You could say that." he told her. "Would you believe that we're dating?"

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone."

"Oh...oh my..." Mom said surprised. Matt couldn't tell by the tone of her voice how she felt about it. With another pause on the other end of the phone, Sissy was slowly starting to wake from the sound of Matt's voice. Matt turned around, seeing her sleepily smiling at her. She sat up in the bed, drawing near Matt and giving him a kiss. Sissy was so tired that she didn't realize that he had a phone up to his ear at first. Blinking once again, she squinted her tired eyes.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked him half awake. Matt handed her the phone with Sissy awkwardly taking it.

"Find out for yourself." he told her sounding happy. Sissy put the phone up to hear ear, not sure as to who it could be

"Hello?" she said.

"Sissy?" Mom said, almost sounding emotional. "Is it true that you and Matt are dating?"

Sissy's other ears perked up from the surprise. With the phone so close, Matt could hear Mom as well, wondering if something was wrong. Both him and her looked at each other at a loss.

"Yes, we are." Sissy told Mom sounding happy about it. "Is everything alright?"

Mom could be heard sniffling on the other end of the line.

"Yes," she told her though her tears, "that's wonderful! I'm so happy for the both of you!"

Matt got a little embarrassed by how emotional he could hear Mom getting with Sissy smiling to herself.

"He treats me well and certainly knows how to make me feel special." Sissy told her previous owner confidently. "Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be saying anything even remotely close to that, but I couldn't be any happier that I was wrong."

"Now you're just trying to get me worked up." she could hear Mom laugh through the tears. "This is great news, Sissy. You need someone in your life like Matt. I just _knew_ he was going to be a good trainer for you, but I'm even happier to know that you two are a couple. Oh, goodness, listen to me ramble. I'm sorry for talking your ear off Sissy, I just hope things are going well for you."

"They are." Sissy told her very sure with herself, smiling with the phone still up to her ear. "It's good to hear your voice again, Mom."

"You too, dear." Mom told her. "Could you hand the phone back to Matt again? I need to ask him something."

"Okay," Sissy told her happily, "love you."

"I love you too, Sissy."

Sissy handed the phone back to Matt, laying back down on the bed on her side facing him. She was still naked as well with the covers of the blankets barely covering over her chest.

"I'm glad to hear you're happy about Sissy and I being together." Matt told Mom. "At first I thought you were upset about it."

"Upset?" Mom said surprised. "I couldn't be any happier about it if I tried!"

There was a sudden pause directly afterward.

"Matt," Mom asked him sounding suddenly serious "has Sissy said anything to you about my son?"

Matt glanced over, seeing Sissy's eyes were closed, breathing softly.

"No." Matt told her, not wanting to drop details for Sissy to hear. Sissy barely opened her eyes, smiling at Matt lovingly. She didn't appear to have heard the question Mom had asked him, even with her impeccable hearing. There was soft sigh on the other end of the line.

"I know this isn't a topic you would probably want to bring up," Mom told him, "but I think it would be beneficial to Sissy if helped her open up about it soon."

"Alright." Matt responded, forcing himself to sound very dryly about it. Mom could sort of tell that he was suppressing his emotions.

"I'm sorry," Mom apologized, "I hope I haven't ruined your morning."

"It's alright." Matt told her. "It's just good to hear your voice again."

"I hope everything had been going well for you." Mom told him. "I'm curious to know about your adventure taking place, but we'll have to save it for another day. I have company over and I'm sure I've kept him waiting long enough. He's a nice young man- Kane is it?"

There was a voice on the other end of the phone as if to respond to her question.

"Okay, Mom." Matt told her. "I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye, dear!" she told him cheerfully. "Take good care of Sissy and I love you!"

Matt hung up the phone with Sissy seeing the worried look on his face.

"Everything okay?" She asked him. Matt realized his fear of asking Sissy about Mom's son was showing, making himself smile. He tossed his phone on the nightstand, crawling under the covers once again. The feeling of Sissy's fur was felt when she snuggled up close to him.

"Yeah," he told her, "everything's fine. Just a little tired still."

Sissy nudged her snout against his nose playfully.

"What did Mom need to ask you?" she inquired, feeling frisky.

"Oh, nothing important." Matt lied, not wanting to spill the beans just yet. It would probably be best to ask her later. There was no sense in ruining the day, even if it was still down pouring outside. Sissy felt Matt place his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it fondly. She looked into his eyes happily, enjoying the feeling of his touch.

"Last night was really fun..." she told him, getting a little shy. Sissy moved her eyes down, too embarrassed to look Matt in the eye anymore. "I just wish I was a little better at...you know..."

Matt started laughing at how timid she was suddenly being about the subject of oral.

"Better at sucking dick?" Matt laughed, being completely blunt. With her head still on the pillow, Sissy's ear that was facing up from the pillow folded back with a slightly disturbed expression.

"You don't have to be so crude about it..." she told him sounding stern, though Matt could tell she wasn't as upset as she tried to lead him to believe. "But...um...yes..."

Matt playfully pulled her closer to him as they laid in the bed with Sissy blushing even more now with their bodies completely pushed together.

"I missed that part." Matt told her with a sadistic grin. "Would you mind repeating it?"

Sissy held back from smiling, forcing a grumpy frown. The ends of her mouth would ever so often twitch, showing that it was hard to keep her facade.

"Don't be stupid..." she told him sounding mad, even if she really wasn't. Sissy's eyes grew wide when she felt Matt's hand grab part of her ass. Her ear perked up with a very mouse-like stare directed towards Matt. His hands lightly rubbed the part of her butt he had grabbed, every now and then massaging it. Without her even realizing it, Sissy's mouth slighly hung open in arousal with her eyes half lidded. Even more unaware to her, she was salivating from the pleasurable feeling of her ass being groped.

"You like this a lot, huh?" Matt told her. Sissy blinked, trying to look mad.

"N-no..." she told him trying to force an angry glare. The feeling of her tail wagging was felt when in hit the back of Matt's hand, which was still toying with her backside.

"Then why is your tail saying you do?" Matt teased with a smug smile. Sissy couldn't help having her tail wag when she was happy. The feeling of Matt toying with her body was anything but unwanted. She looked away from him, biting her lip in hopes she wouldn't make any sudden noises of delight.

"I might like it..." she said, with the truth slowly but surely coming forward. Matt stopped playing with her ass, suddenly pushing her over to her back as the two of them were still under the sheets. Sissy watched at Matt motioned his hands up and down her stomach, unable to help but feel shy about him touching her body.

Her eyes widened when she felt Matt move his hands up to her breasts, grouping and squeezing them. The feeling of his firm hands and nimble fingers touching her breasts was making her even more aroused, closing her thighs together with her tail still wagging beneath her. Matt noticed her nipples erect, poking out from behind her fur.

He lowered his head, putting his lips on one of them and starting to lightly tease it with his tongue. Sissy let out a moan on accident, quickly closing her mouth and looking away from Matt as he raised his head.

"So you like having your boobs played with too, I see." Matt told her. Sissy's tail kept wagging, unable to look at him.

"I...suppose..." she told him weakly. Matt smiled, leaning forward and planting an unexpected kiss on Sissy's mouth. He moved his hand to the side of her face, moving his head back afterward.

"I'm sorry I'm such a meany." Matt told her with a wink, moving back in the bed and edging his way out. Sissy sat up with the sheets shamelessly to her waist, exposing her breasts with the nipples still erect. She watched him grab his clothes, walking his way towards the bedroom door. He suddenly stopped, making a quick turn into the bathroom. He very well couldn't go out to put his clothes in the refurbishing machine bare ass naked.

He came back out with a towel wrapped around his waist with his shirt, pants, socks, and underwear in his hands, grabbing the handle of his bedroom door. Before leaving, he turned to look at Sissy, giving her another wink before leaving. Sissy sat there, watching as he left the room to go about his regular morning routine. She laid back down in an attempt to get a little more sleep.

But thanks to Matt's teasing, she was too horny to do so...

Matt closed the door behind him, seeing the suite was fairly empty. The only person that was in the room was Bomber along with some strange woman. It caught him by surprised when she turned around to face him, having a smug grin on her face. It took him a while to realize that it was Shade.

Her pale purplish skin had turned to an olive-pale, looking like a human. Her hair was still styled to the side, but was now blond with only a single purple highlight in it. Her eyes were still a light red and she wore tight shirt, similar to the kind that Rachel would wear, being a deep purple. On her legs were jean short shorts, going up high on her thighs. On her feet were a pair of flip flops, also being purple. Matt blinked, not sure if he were imagining things or if he was still still sleeping.

"Shade?" Matt said surprised. She smiled at him, sticking out her hip. Bomber was sitting behind her, unintentionally staring at her butt, which the jean short shorts complimented well.

"I look hot, right?" she told him. "I got tired of the big shirt and started playing around with my magic last night when everyone was still sleeping. I've been working on creating this outfit for a few days. You like it?"

Matt slightly moved his head to the side, still seeing Bomber staring at Shade's butt.

"I know Bomber certainly does." Matt told her with a smirk. Shade smirked back with her hand on her side, still with her hip sticking out.

"He's staring at my ass again, isn't he?" Shade laughed, turning around to see Bomber quickly look away as if to act natural. If anything it made him look even more incriminating. She laughed with him getting red behind his feathers, soon with Shade turning back to face Matt. Along with Bomber staring at her ass once again as well.

"I didn't know you could change your look like that." Matt told her, still in a towel with his dirty clothes in hand. "I wish _I_ could magically have clothes appear instead of having to refurbish my ever morning. That looks good on you, but you sorta look like one of those preppy girls you'd see at the beach or mall."

Shade crossed her arms, giving him a narrow eyed look.

"Forgive me for choosing to be myself." She told him with a small smirk reappearing. "For your information, this is what I used to look like when I was still alive, well, besides from having red pupils, of course. Not only have I been working on this outfit, but I've been trying another one."

The clothes on her body started to morph, changing shape and color with some of it absorbing into her body with other parts coming out of her. It was certainly eye catching the way the material adjusted. Before Matt's very eyes, Shade was now in possibly one of the most bondage inclined outfits he'd ever seen.

Around her neck was a spiked color, being black with the spikes being a brilliant white. With various leather straps around her body, her chest was hardly covered with her breasts being most exposed in exception to her nipples. The straps did and X like form around her front, turning into one that covered her privates.

Bomber's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as when he saw her backside. Shade turned her body around to show Matt, with only a strap covering her butt crack which went up to lower back before branching out into two other straps like the front had done.

"Now _that's_ hot!" she told him with a giggle. Bomber covered his eyes, finally unable to keep staring. The longer he did the more shameful it made him feel. Matt cocked his head, taking her completely seriously, nodding slightly in approval.

"If BDSM is your thing," he told her, "yeah that's pretty nice. It's not really my preference, but I really like the collar though."

Shade's eyes sparkled with a happy smile, grabbing her collar around her neck pale neck.

"I know, right?!"

"Shade..." Bomber said almost sounding like a frightened child. "Could you please put your other outfit on..."

Shade turned around to face him with her arms folded over her chest, finding him with his wings still covering over his eyes.

"You were already staring at me before," she told him with her hip sticking out again. "so why do you care if you can _actually_ get a better look at my body?"

"That's...different..." Bomber told her. "It makes me feel uncomfortable to see you so... exposed."

Shade drew near to him with Matt watching as she wrapped her arms around Bomber's neck.

"And why is that?" she asked him flirtatiously. "Can't handle seeing such hotness?"

Bomber's wings were still covering his eyes with him feeling warmer. He didn't respond with Shade finally letting go.

"I'll take that as a yes." She snickered, changing her outfit once again. Within seconds, she changed back into her other outfit with short shorts and shirt. Bomber took his wings off of his eyes, finding Shade still staring at him. "Happy now?"

Matt shook his head with a laugh, walking over to the refurbisher machine near the kitchen area.

"Where's everybody at?" He asked, opening the top of the machine, dropping in his clothes. He turned the machine on with Shade floating around Bomber, sitting backwards on his back so she could face Matt. Glancing over the stove clock, he saw it was nearly eight in the morning.

"Emie's off at the ninja school thingy," Shade explained, with Bomber turning around to face Matt, which made Shade have to turn around again on his back, "Rachel and Doug are out shopping with her Nidoran, Laurence had to 'take care of something' again, Darrell's out working, and to my knowledge Otto and Clara are still sleeping.

As if summoned by her name, little Clara pushed open the door to Otto's room, rushing out in a panic, running through the kitchen area on all fours, and bumping into Matt's leg. She started to poke his shin, standing up on two feet and pointing at Otto's room in terror.

"Pikachu!" she said nearly in tears. "Pika Pika_chu!_"

Shade, hopped off of Bomber, transparently walking through the couch and over to little Clara. She bent down to look her in the eye to show she cared.

"What's wrong?" Shade asked her concerned. Clara looked at Shade, gesturing and pointing over at the door. Clara started speaking to Shade, using different variations of her name with tears forming in her eyes as if something had gone horribly wrong. Shade began to translate out loud so Matt could understand.

"She says she woke up to find Otto wasn't sleeping in bed with her anymore." Shade translated. "Clara's saying she heard him in the bathroom with weird noises coming from the other side."

Matt looked at Clara with a laugh.

"Sounds like Otto's constipated." Matt chortled.

"Pikachu _chu~!_" Clara told him. Shade stood up from her crouch position, looking at Matt with a large grin.

"She says his 'puter' was gone too." Shade snickered. Clara nodded her head.

"Pi pi ka Pikachu!" she added. Shade nearly snorted with laughter.

"She thinks someone's in there with him." Shade said laughing. Matt raised his eyebrow at her.

"Why is that?" He asked. Shade was almost in tears.

"She says she could also hear a woman making noises too." Shade laughed. Matt instantly understood what was going on, laughing to himself while walking back to his room.

"I'll be taking a shower." Matt said with a laugh, waving off the 'problem' as if it were nothing, which it was. Clara couldn't understand why Matt and Shade thought it was so funny. Shade bend down again and patted her on her head.

"Your trainer's just busy choking his chicken." Shade tried to explain to her. Clara cocked her.

"Pikachu?" She said at a loss. Naïve Clara had no idea what she was talking about, let alone what a chicken _was_.

**Against popular belief, in the Pokemon universe normal animals **_**do**_** exist in the realm, though aren't as prevalent. Some believe that Pokemon are simply magic enhanced animals due to similarities between the two while others argue that there are evolutionary aspects involved. Some individuals actually believe, though have been ridiculed for such beliefs, that Pokemon originally came from outer space and are forms of alien lifeforms.**

The sound of Matt tripping inside his room from being startled could be heard.

"I heard it again!" he cried on the other side of his closed door. He went ignored.

"Stay here, Clara." Shade told her. "I'll go check up on him, okay? Don't worry, he's fine."

Clara nodded her head, watching as Shade entered Otto's room. Bomber cocked his head, just as confused as Clara was when Shade said Otto was 'chocking his chicken.'

"Where on earth would he have gotten a chicken?" Bomber wondered, still unfamiliar with terms involving 'certain activities'. "And why would be chock it?"

Shade leaned up against the bathroom door with her arms crossed, putting her ear close to it.

"_Oh fuck yeah!_" she heard a woman say, sounding like it were coming from his laptop. "_Harder!_"

Shade snickered, hearing the noises of Otto tending to his business.

"How's it going in there?" Shade asked very candidly, still leaned up against the door.

She heard his laptop fall from being startled.

"S-shade?!" Otto said sounding panicked. "W-what are you doing in my room?!"

"Just wanted to tell you to hurry up." she chuckled. "Your Pikachu is worried about you."

The sound of porn being played could still be heard on the other side.

"It's kinda hard to focus with you standing outside!"

Shade started laughing.

"You having trouble in there?" She asked him playfully. "Do you need a..._hand_?"

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

_**"I've**_ never been fond of sushi." Darrell admitted, sitting on the large heart shaped bed with Athena, both drinking tea. Darrell was off the clock finally, paying for a morning session with Athena. He told Hugo 'her pussy was the best' insisting on paying for another session. Hugo was 'kind' enough to give him a discount. While he thought Darrell was ravaging her, he in reality was talking about likes and dislikes, enjoying some tea.

Athena sweetly laughed.

"I grew up on it." Athena told him. That thought alone made Darrell shiver.

"I tried to eat it once," he told her after a sip of his tea. "but I couldn't get over the texture."

Athena sweetly smiled at him, enjoying every second of his company.

"Not many people would do this for someone." Athena told him. "I thank you."

Darrell respectfully gave a bow of his head.

"It's the least I could do." he told her. "I just wish I could do more for you."

"You being here is enough." she told him honestly. Darrell looked up, staring into her beautiful eyes. She had the prettiest face he'd ever since in his life. "I know I've only known you for a short time, but I feel as if I've known you my entire life."

Darrell smiled, though it soon turned into a frown.

"I just wish none of this had happened to you." Darrell told her. "Nobody deserves this, especially you."

Athena held her tea close to her, completely still as she sat on the bed.

"I've come to believe that everything happens for a reason." she told him calmly. "As much as this might be a displeasing situation, I'm sure there is a reason for it."

Darrell frowned at her, unable to see how she could be so optimistic.

"I can't think of a single positive thing about this." he told her being honestly. "What reason could there possibly be?"

Athena looked up at Darrell with a shimmer in her eyes.

"I met you." She told him sweetly. "That's all the reason I need."

Darrell looked at her at a loss for words. He couldn't think of anything to tell her. Should he tell her that he thought that she was an beautiful woman with a beautiful personality? Should he tell her that he loved everything about her? Perhaps there was nothing he should say. The two of them looked into each others eyes, listening to the never ending rain outside.

"_**Nine **_hundred and ninety-eight," Master Nagato counted, standing on Emie's back as she preformed one handed pushups with her left hand. "nine hundred and ninety-nine, one thousand."

Emie dropped to her face with her arm feeling like it were made of pudding. The thought of food made Emie's stomach growl. On the account of leaving so early in the morning, she didn't have time to eat anything, nor would she likely during the entire day of training.

Master Nagato held his wooden stick in his hand, hitting Emie's right side.

"Again, with the other arm." he demanded. Emie painfully put her right hand on the floor, doing as instructed. She began to pump her arm up and down with the weight of her own weight and her master standing on top of her. There were no words to describe this pain she felt. It was a pain that soaked into your soul- the kind that broke you from the inside-out.

She kept going, not sure how her body could physically handle all of the abuse. Emie couldn't even escape to her thoughts. They were all of pain that hurt even worse than the punishment she was currently receiving. Emie envisioned Matt holding Sissy, both completely happy.

"Emie was such an idiot!" She imagined Matt laughing. "What a stupid dummy-face!"

"Emie is stupid!" Sissy would chime in. "Emie so stupid Emie thought that Matt actually _loved_ her. How could Emie be so stupid? Matt loves _Sissy_, not stupid Emie!"

The caricatures of Matt and Sissy in her head continued to laugh, making Emie force herself to not cry. Instead, she focused on the pain in her body and arm. It was sad that the only thing to comfort her was the physically pain, but it worked and she wasn't going complain with the results. Anything to keep her mind busy from thinking about Matt and Sissy laughing at how stupid and unwanted she was.

Before she knew it, she had reached another thousand. Emie fell on her face again, panting from the exhaustion. Master Nagato stepped off of her, walking forward. He turned, holding his stick by his side as he stared at her lying on the ground.

"Stand." he told her. Emie put her hands down against the floor, feeling the both pop. It felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders as she pulled her limp and hurt body to her feet. She stood there before Master Nagato with her feet trembling. With his stick still in hand, he swung it downward at her, smacking it into the side of her shin.

Emie fell, landing on her side in even more pain.

"I said stand." Master Nagato demanded. Emie once again forced herself to pull her body up from the floor that she had gotten fairly acquainted with during the past two days. Everything in her body screamed for her to stop moving, but she knew she couldn't. She had to keep going. Barely able to stay on her feet, Emie wobbled to-and-fro. Master Nagato whacked her in the side. Hard. Emie clenched her teeth, now landing on her other side.

"Are you deaf?" Master Nagato asked her condescendingly. "I told you to stand, did I not?"

Emie gripped the floor of the ninjutsu school with her claws digging into it. All she could do was lay on her stomach. Her body physically couldn't go on any further. Master Nagato shook his head, throwing his stick to the side. Emie watched it bounce, then roll over into the wall on the other side of the room. There was so much power in his arm that it would have impressed her if she wasn't in so much pain.

"You're completely worthless." Master Nagato told her. "You're a disgrace to everyone and have no right to even be lying on my floor. I wish you could see how pathetic you look."

Emie clenched her teeth, clawing even deeper into the wood. Rage fueled her veins, allowing her to once again stand on her two feet. Her white training uniform was covered in marks from where she had landed, some being of dirt and others being of dried blood from her wounds she'd sustained. Master Nagato looked unimpressed as she defied her own body and it's limits. Anger was written all over Emie's face with her claws still bared.

"Are you supposed to scare me?" Master Nagato mocked. "I've seen infants that strike more fear into the hearts of others than yourself, you miserable mistake of a creature."

Emie snapped, lunging forward towards him in the intent of tearing out his throat, which Master Nagato was expecting her to do. With the slightest of motions, he grabbed her arm, twisting it. Emie fell on her knees with a painful yell.

"Your first lesson." Master Nagato told her. "A true warrior controls their emotions. To use them to allow you to continue the fight is wise, but only a fool would strike with their thoughts clouded by hatred."

He let go of her arm, with Emie holding it in pain as Master Nagato continued to stare at her.

"Now," he told her, turning around to leave. "I expect you to do a thousand more by the time I get my tea ready."

Emie was still kneeling on the floor, watching as Master Nagato left. Reluctantly, she got on her hand and preformed more one handed pushups, starting to count... but was unable to get past four without getting confused. Nevertheless, she continued, regardless of not being able to count.

Simply put, Emie wanted to die.

_**Rachel**_ and Doug, both using umbrellas that they had gotten from the Pokemon center, walked through Pewter city, still on the hunt for food. There were small stores in the area they were shopping in, all looking like they were dying for business. Few people braved to go out in the terrible weather, not wanting to get wet. Doug actually enjoyed the rain. He thought it was calming. Rachel on the other hand was too deep in thought to care about the rain at all.

The two of them kept walking with Rachel reaching into her pocket, pulling out her Pokeball with her Nidoran, still needing to be named. Would it even matter though? She let out a sigh, having the same thoughts that had been going through her head continue to ravage her mind.

"Doug," she said sounding a little lost in her voice. "can I ask you something?"

Doug turned his head to her, still walking leisurely through the city.

"Of course." he told her, seeing the sadness on her face. "Is everything alright?"

Rachel shook her head, seeing a man selling fish under a covered stall with the smell being strong.

"Not really." she told him truthfully. "I'm at war with myself I guess."

"About what?" he asked her with the sound of raining tapping on the tops of both of their umbrellas.

"I guess you could say Matt, Otto, and I aren't from here." She told him, not wanting to tell him anything he couldn't handle. It wasn't like she could just openly tell him that they were all from another universe that he had never heard of before. "We sort of got caught up here and need to return home. But I guess that's my problem. Not all of us are going home."

Doug looked at Rachel with sympathy as they continued to walk.

"I'm afraid I don't fully understand." Doug told her. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"It's complicated," she tried to explain. "but Otto and I are trying to find a way how to get back to our hometown, but when we do we have to leave Matt and everyone behind. I guess that even includes Laurence and my Nidoran..."

Doug wasn't sure what to think of her situation. It was clear to him that there were things she were reserving to tell him, but he understood. Doug never was one to pry into other people's affairs, respecting privacy in general.

"You're not sure how to feel about leaving everyone?" Doug asked her. "I can understand that."

Rachel once again sighed, looking over to some kids playing in the rain. The bottoms of their pants were covered in mud, soaked in rain water. They were running around, completely care free.

"I just wish it wasn't so difficult," Rachel told him. "but I have to get back home."

Doug gave a nod of his head, even if Rachel couldn't see it. She was too focused on watching the children play as her and Doug walked together.

"In times like this I guess you have to weigh things in your head." Doug told her. "What really means more to you, the people you love or your home? Perhaps that's too black and white; I can't speak for the friends you may have where you're from or responsibilities you might have."

Rachel forced herself to stop watching the kids play, still walking through the muddy market street, hearing the cries of people trying to sell their goods and produce.

"I don't know what to do, Doug." she told him honestly, holding her Nidoran's Pokeball in her hand. Doug smiled, reminiscing on his adventures with Darrell.

"Enjoy the time you have now." Doug told her. "Just because you have to make a hard choice in the future doesn't mean it should ruin the present. Darrell and I have had are share of misadventures, mostly with us forced to make choices on the spot. We may not know where how we're going to eat or where we're going to sleep at times, but we know we'll figure it out. So what's the point in worrying about the things you know will sort themselves out?"

Rachel thought about it with her steps slowing slightly.

"Maybe you're right." she told him. "I guess I shouldn't worry so much about the future and enjoy the time I have still with everyone before the time comes when I have to leave."

"I _know_ I'm right." Doug laughed, making Rachel do the same. "So, anything in particular sound good to you?"

Rachel thought about it, not sure. Even if she didn't want to admit it, her mind was more focused on having to leave when they found Bill instead of food. Though, she wondered, did she _really_ have to leave? What a stupid thought, of course she did! She didn't belong in a world like this.

But still...

_**With**_ the day soon nearing noon, Sissy and Bomber were going about their normal daily routine of sparing in the training room. Sissy was using a practice stick, having left her bokuto in the suite, knowing that she wasn't going to be needing it. She preformed a downward swing, smashing it into Bomber's wing. He managed to block it, though it stung. Sissy's boost in spirits showed in her sparing, having more vigor and strength than usual.

Bomber swiped his wing at her, only to bash not cut in fear of actually hurting her. She blocked it perfectly, holding the stick with both hands in a downward position. She twirled, hitting Bomber in the side with the stick, followed by contact with his head, though only did a light tap, not wanting to give him a concussion. Bomber rubbed his side with his wing, feeling the sting full on.

"Damn," he said, "I didn't know you could pack such a hit."

Sissy smiled, still in a fighting stance with both hands on the stick.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I hope I'm not hurting you too much."

"Don't be sorry," Bomber laughed. "that just means you're doing a good job attacking and I'm doing a crap job blocking."

Sissy shrugged, not convinced.

"It's not really fair to you though." she told him. "you have to hold yourself back in fear of hurting me. I've seen you do those wing attacks of yours; you're not a pushover."

"Never said I was." Bomber told her with a wink. Both of them laughed, lowering their stances for a moment.

"Wanna take a break?" Sissy asked him. Bomber nodded his head with a tired exhale.

"Sounds good to me." he told her. "I need a break from getting my feathered ass beaten."

The word ass made Sissy think of that morning, still not completely settled down from the arousal. Even if she was on the top of her game that morning, the thought of sex wouldn't leave her mind. The mental images of her and Matt making love started flooding her mind.

His strong body holding hers. The way he kissed her lovingly, knowing deep inside that he wasn't going to let her go, no matter what. There was a certain serenity to the way he held her, the way he kissed her lips, even the way he-

"Hell_oooo_." Bomber said waving his wing at Sissy, getting her to finally snap out of her daydreaming. "You awake in there?"

Sissy smiled, nodding at him. She twirled the stick in the air, nearly hitting Bomber in the beak on accident, planting it down before her with confidence.

"Yeah," she told him with her smiling still. "just thinking about stuff."

Bomber cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Stuff?" Bomber asked with a certain jolliness to his tone. "What kinda stuff."

"Just stuff." Sissy laughed, getting shy about him asking about what she was thinking of. It would be a little embarrassing to admit to him that she was thinking about the way Matt made her feel special. Not to mention the way he used his mouth. Bomber however edged his way closer to her, tapping her on the side with his large wing.

"What kinda stuff?" he asked her playfully. She simply laughed the more Bomber kept tapping her with his wing. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

Sissy shook her head, laughing and blushing at the same time.

"It's stupid." she told him coyly. Bomber shook his head, bumping her with his wing again.

"Whatever it is I know it's not stupid." Bomber told her assuringly. "Come on! Tell me already!"

Sissy shrugged, turning her head from him, blushing even more.

"If you _must_ know," she told him with a smile. "I was just thinking about Matt."

She glanced up at Bomber, seeing him happy for her.

"Aww," he told her, finding her adorable. "that's so cute!"

Sissy groaned, pushing Bomber a set back with him laughing.

"Oh, shut up." she told him jokingly. The sound of the television that hung on the wall of the training room was heard with both Sissy and Bomber still goofing around in the training square they were in. The training room was literally empty expect for them being in it, leaving it quiet enough to even hear the AC unit running that was there to keep the room cooled down from all the body heat that tended to emanate.

"For the record," Bomber told her, "I think you two are a cute couple."

Sissy smiled, but suddenly frowned.

"Thanks," she told him. "but to be honest, I don't feel like I deserve to be with him. On top of that I feel like a complete bitch when it comes to Emie."

The sound of the television could be heard by Bomber.

"Don't beat yourself up." Bomber told her. "You-"

"-Mikhail's Ranch is one of the leading agricultural producers in Cerulean."

Bomber stopped in mid sentence, looking up at the TV from hearing that name. There was a newscaster standing outside a large stable with a man wearing a cowboy hat along with a denim jacket.

"Yes it is." the man in the cowboy hat told the news caster. "And I'm sure proud of that fact, knowing that I create jobs for the town and produce needed supplies."

Bomber stared at the man, unable to look away. Sissy looked at Bomber, who was completely absorbed in the newscast. The image of Emie being touched by the Gastly disgusted as a human came to his mind. He wore that same hat, that same jacket, and looked identical. All that was missing was-

"Now tell me," the newscaster told the man in the cowboy hat. "why is it that you wear pink laces in your boots, Mikhail?"

The camera man panned down, zooming in on the boots.

Bomber felt his blood chill over.

"I wear them 'cause I feel like it makes me come closer to the children." the cowboy explained. "I like to show people I'm kind and carrying, not all up tight and all business like all these other ranchers. It means I like to have fun and enjoy life to the fullest, even by wearing silly laces."

Bomber glared at the TV, feeling his blood begin to now boil, seeing the bullshit Mikhail was spewing. That fake face he had, Bomber had seen that millions of times in the shirks office, knowing when people were just telling you what you wanted to hear. This was no kind hearted man. This was the man that had raped Emie.

"You lying son of a bitch..." Bomber snarled, feeling himself get angrier than he had ever in his life. Sissy took a step back, seeing a smokey glow emanating from him with his feathers standing on end. Bomber was getting so made that his UMP was physically showing.

"Bomber?..." Sissy asked. Bomber seemed to not even hear her, walking out of the training area.

"I'm sorry," he told her "I need to get out of here."

Sissy dropped the stick, running after him. She got in front of Bomber, making him stop.

"Whoa whoa," she told him. "what's going on?"

Bomber looked at her with his anger slightly subsiding.

"It's...nothing."

"Bullshit." Sissy told him sternly. "I've never once heard you cuss like that nor hardly get upset at anything without just cause. Now tell me what's wrong."

Bomber looked away from her, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Do you remember when we were all captured by those Gastlys?" he asked her.

"Of course I do." she told him. "How could I forget?"

Bomber reopened his eyes, looking right into hers. She had never seen him so upset before. He moved his wing towards the screen.

"When Emie and I were trapped in the same room, _he_ was who showed up."

Sissy shook her head, not understanding.

"Look," Bomber told her, "I'm not stupid. I've spent my entire life in an office putting pieces of peoples lives together. That bastard, or at least the portrayal of him, was putting his hands all over Emie, telling her to undress with the intentions of having his way with her. No offense to Emie, but she's not that creative to come up with the random fear of being raped or what her rapist might look like. The only way that she would fear it is if it actually happened to her, by that guy named Mikhail no less. I have no doubt in my mind Emie came from a life of being sexually abused and mistreated."

Sissy blinked, not sure how to take all of this.

"Are you serious?..." Sissy asked him. Bomber had a cold look in his eye, clearly upset with seeing Mikhail on TV.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" he responded.

"_**We're**_ going down!" Otto told Clara, who was held in his hands, motioning her downwards as he ran through the Pokemon center lobby. Little Clara giggled so hard that she snorted, enjoying Otto playing airplane with her. He made zooming noises as he spun her around. "Our engines are failing!"

He momentarily let go of her, catching her before she hit the floor of the Pokemon center lobby. Clara was still laughing with her cheeks lighting up from all of the giggling. Otto tossed her up in the air, with little Clara flying upwards. He caught her, pulling her close to give her a hug. She could feel his heart beating hard.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Otto said out of breath. "My heart feels like it's pounding out of my chest. Just goes to show you how fit a computer geek is."

Clara smiled at her trainer, affectionately snuggling her head against his chest.

"Pikachu~!" she told him lovingly. He in return gave her a sweet kiss on the head.

"Hey, four eyes!"

Otto looked over his shoulder, seeing a young adult in parachute pants, black jacket, along with headphones around his neck giving him a dirty look.

"Take your love fest somewhere else." he told Otto. "Nobody wants to see you acting like some punk in public."

Otto looked around the lobby, seeing that they were the only people there. He then glared at the headphone-trainer with a scowl.

"Screw off, man." Otto told him. "I'm just having fun with my Pikachu."

The headphone-trainer snarled at Otto, exposing the single Pokeball on his belt."

"Do you see _me_ acting like a jackass with my Phyduck?" he snapped. "Grow up and learn how to act like an adult."

Otto shook his head at the trainer with Clara frowning at the headphone-trainer that was calling out Otto.

"What the hell is your problem?" Otto asked him. "I'm not doing anything to you."

"You're bothering me." the headphone-trainer told him.

"I'm minding my own business," Otto came back, "and you should too. Don't act like you're high and mighty because you're too much of a prick to let others do there own thing."

"You know what," the trainer told him, raising his voice. "if you think you're such hot shit why don't you take that stupid Pikachu and battle me? Nothing would make me happier than pounding that stupid rat's face into the floor."

Clara's cheeks started flickering in anger.

"Pika Pika!" Clara yelled. Otto narrowed his glare, still holding Clara in his arms.

"Go ahead and try to, jackass." Otto told him.

_**Having**_ set themselves on the battle area, Otto and Clara stood beside each other as the headphone-trainer stood on the other side, waiting for the referee to start the match. The ref explained the rules, telling them the match would be over only when either all Pokemon were defeated or when a trainer forfeit. Otto adjusted his glasses, staring at the trainer.

He took Clara's Pokeball, adjusting it to Red-Green with him feeling it in his head, getting a slight headache. A strategy was forming in Otto's brain, using all information he had been taking in. If he was going to win he was going to have to be precise. Though Clara was small, he had seen just how powerful she could be after she fried his gaming console.

"We've got this, Clara." Otto told her, sending a serge on confidence her way. With Otto's influence higher due to her will meter set to Red-Green, she felt it more, getting even more confident about the battle. "Just listen to me and we'll win this, okay?"

"Pikachu!" she said as if letting out war cry with her cheeks sparking and her paws up. The ref stepped out of the middle of the battle area, raising his hand in the air, pausing for effect. He threw his hand down, blowing his whistle for the match to start.

The headphone-trainer threw out his Pokeball with a flash appearing. A duck like creature appeared, being only about two feet fall. It had large eyes and it's feathers being yellow. It scratched it's head with it's arms, looking completely confused as to what was happening.

"Phyduck?" it pondered, as if trying to remember what it was originally thinking about.

"Go Clara!" Otto told her, with little Clara rushing out onto the battle area, running toward the Phyduck with her cheeks sparking. The headphone-trainer pointed at the Clara, ordering his Phyduck to engage.

"Go Phyduck!" he ordered it. "Show that rat what you're made of."

The Phyduck kept scratching it's head, once again forgetting what it was trying to remember. It shrugged it's little feathered arms, soon putting it's hands on it's head, closing it's large eyes to focus. Otto saw this, knowing just by the way it looked that it was going to plan an attack.

"Use physic wave!" the headphone-trainer told it. The Phyduck complied, sending out a purple wave of energy that rippled through the air towards Clara.

Otto's brain started working in overdrive, nearly slowing down time it seemed. He saw the way it motioned through the air, going up and down like an actually wave. Numbers and formulas went through his head with little Clara stopping to stare in awe at the purple ripple directed at her.

"Clara," he ordered, "Take two steps back and drop down!"

Clara did as she was told, taking two steps back, then flopping down on the ground. With the wave doing a perfect arch over her as it motioned, it passed her with it barely missing her. If she had been a step farther forward or backwards she would have been hit. The headphone-trainer couldn't comprehend how Otto predicted the precise location.

"How the hell?!" he hollered, with the Phyduck cocking it's head to the side, thinking to itself, trying to desperately remember what it was trying to remember before. Otto pointed at the Phyduck with Clara's cheeks aglow.

"Clara," he ordered. "use a lightning attack now!"

With her eyes closing to focus and her paws close to her body, she started sparking. The headphone-trainer knew it wasn't going to be good if his Phyduck, being that of a water type especially, got hit, thinking on his feet.

"Use physic barrier!" he ordered. The Phyduck did just that, putting his hands on his head with a purple light surrounding around him, appearing to be a square wall around him. Clara was still charging up for an attack with Otto using his brain power once again to his advantage. Using the proper trajectory, Clara could still easily hit it. He glanced up, seeing the lighting fixtures overhead.

"Shoot for the light above it!" Otto ordered. That instant, Clara sent out a blast of lightning towards the light fixture above it. There was a loud spark with the energy blast actually growing in strength, being sent back down towards the Phyduck behind the barrier. The headphone-trainer watched as his Phyduck started convulsing from the shock, falling flat on it's face, falling over from the electricity that had went through it's body.

And just like that, the battle was won almost as quick as it started. Clara started jumping up and down happily with Otto letting out a yell of valor. The headphone-trainer couldn't comprehend that he had lost the way he did. He watched at Otto flipped him a middle finger, adding insult to injury.

"Suck it, bitch!" Otto yelled. "Next time show some respect and you wouldn't have fried duck!"

"Phy...duck..." the Phyduck coughed with the ref blowing the whistle. Otto bend down with Clara running towards him. She jumped in his arms as he gave her a loving hug.

"Good job!" he told her. "That's my girl!"

"Pikachu!" she told him happily, with the headphone-trainer still standing there with his mouth open, having been completely served by Otto and his Pikachu.

"_**Who's**_ my girl?" Otto asked once again, carrying Clara in his arms as he walked out of the elevator, making his way towards the suite.

"Pika_chu_~!" Clara told him happily. Otto laughed, giving her a loving hug.

"That's right!" he told her. "_You_ are!"

Clara giggled with Otto stopping outside of the suite. He set Clara down and bent down next to her with a smile.

"I'm really proud of you, Clara." he told her. "You showed that trainer his place. I think you should have gotten a medal for that performance like that."

Otto reached up, undoing his green bandana and taking it off of his head. He reached around Clara's neck after folding it a few times to make it fit her better, tying it around her neck.

"I know it's not a medal," he told her with a smile, "but consider this as my thanks and as a sign that you're my favorite Pikachu in the whole wide world."

Clara looked down around her neck at the bandana that went down to her stomach, glancing back up at Otto with a smile.

"I know it's a little big," Otto told her, "but you look cute with it."

He picked her up with Clara rubbing her head against him happily.

"Come on," he told her with a laugh and his hand on the suite door, "let's tell everybody the good news."

He opened the door, entering inside to find Matt, Sissy, Shade, and Bomber all watching TV. Rachel and Doug were in the kitchen, both cooking some of what they had bought. Doug insisted on helping, admitting that he enjoyed cooking. With both of their hair in pony tails, they looked like two happy girls. That imagine was fitting for Rachel. For Doug...not so much. Even so, he was a really nice guy for helping her.

"Guess who just won their first Pokemon match?" Otto said loudly.

Sissy turned her head after a moment, with everyone else on the couch watching some game show.

"Did you say something Otto?" she asked him politely. Otto sighed, clearing his throat.

"I said 'guess who just won their first Pokemon match!'" Otto repeated even louder.

Everyone turned there heads, seeing Clara smiling back at everyone with Otto's bandana around her neck.

"That looks cute on her." Shade said, now looking like an actual young woman, relaxing on the couch with her legs crossed. Otto lowered his head, feeling defeated in his attempt to get people to listen to him. Everyone sucked at listening to him, which was something he'd just have to learn to accept. He walked over, making his way around to the couch and sitting down with everyone.

"Yeah," Otto told them with a lack of enthusiasm. "she's adorable..."

Sissy sat close to Matt with her head in a fog it seemed. What Bomber had told her was really getting to her. It seemed like a ridiculous lie, pointing out a total stranger on television and saying that they had raped Emie, but Bomber was never one to lie. And it wasn't like he would make that up for no reason. Sissy couldn't do anything but take it as the truth.

She never knew that Emie had had such a troubled past- she didn't seem like the type to have baggage like that. Emie had always been giddy and happy, never upset or hateful towards the world like Sissy had a tendency to do when things went foul. The thought of Mom's son came to mind with her letting out a sad sigh.

Matt looked over to her, seeing that she was thinking instead of watching the show. Wanting to know what was wrong, he placed a hand on her leg, getting her attention. She looked at him, unable to smile. He gave her a strange look, wondering what was wrong. As much as he wanted to know, he didn't dare express his curiosity in public. He lovingly rubbed his hand on her leg, wanting to make her feel better, or at least take her mind off of whatever it was that was troubling her. However, his evil side was slowly getting the better of him.

Sissy looked at him, blushing as he playfully moved his hand towards her crotch without anyone realizing it, making it all the more enjoyable to do. He motioned his hand over her privates, pushing into her yukata and feeling just above her privates. A shiver went her spine. She had to bite her lip as Matt suddenly moved his hand against her privates finally, still toying with her with her yukata still on. Nobody was paying attention, all watching TV.

Even the slightest of motions across her made her heart jump from the physical pleasure. She was biting her lip so hard she swore it would bleed. Matt accidentally toyed with her too much, finally with Sissy letting out a subtle moan, making everyone wonder where it came come. Quickly moving his hand away from Sissy, Matt put his hands together, acting like he was focused on the show. In reality he was holding back laughter. Sissy was acting oblivious as well, blushing ridiculously.

"What the heck was that?" Shade asked legitimately curious. Bomber, who was sitting behind the couch, looked around and shrugged his wings.

"Probably the TV or something."

Sissy saw Matt laughing to himself quietly out of the corner of her eye as she focused on the TV. She turned her head to him with Matt innocently smiling back at her.

"You asshole..." she growled. He simply smiled back at her. Sissy finally had enough of his teasing, wanting a little revenge.

"What's that, Matt?" she said aloud. "You need to talk to me in private?"

Everyone glanced at the two of them as Sissy stood up, yanking on Matt's arm and leading him to their room. Nobody paid them any mind, going back to what they were watching, with Rachel and Doug still busy in the kitchen.

Sissy closed the door behind her and Matt, pulling on his arm and leading him to the bed. She shoved him down on it, making him sit. He watched her as she crossed her arms angrily as he started busting up laughing.

"Oh my god," he laughed, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were going to do that!"

"You've been feeling me up all day!" she told him upset. "Of course it was going to happen! And now it's payback!"

Matt smugly smiled at her.

"And how are you going to get back at me?" he asked her sounding playful. Sissy blushed, but was confident nonetheless.

"You're...you're going to finish what you started!" she told him sternly, showing dominance, though Matt could tell she were getting shy suddenly by the way she looked at him so meekly. "Now...take...um...take your clothes off..."

Matt cocked his head, seeing her blush again.

"Oh," he told her, "I see. You wanna be in control this time, huh?" She shrugged, leaning back on the bed with his arms holding him up with a smile. "Fine, if you wanna be in control, _you_ take them off."

Sissy forced herself to stay confident, looking at him as if she were mad, which she wasn't. If anything she were nervous about acting like an idiot when it came to taking charge. She grabbed his hat, taking it off his head and tossing it on the floor. She awkwardly grabbed the zipper of his jacket, pulling down on it. With it getting stuck...

She kept tugging on it, unable to get it to go farther down. Matt smiled at her, putting his hand on hers. He moved her hand up, then back down so she could undo his jacket. Matt helped her take it off of him, soon with Sissy grabbing the bottom of his shirt and yanking it off of him. She tossed them both on the floor, now reaching for the zipper of Matt's pants.

"Hold on," he told her standing up and undoing his belt. "You're not going to get very far with this still on."

Sissy felt like an idiot, lowering her head.

"I'm really bad at this..." she sighed. She felt Matt put his hand on the side of her head, lifting it up to look at him.

"No," he told her with a shake of his head, "You're just _new_ at it. There's a difference."

He undid his belt, followed by undoing his pants and letting them hit the floor.

"I'll get my underwear too." he told her. "It's a little tough to take off for someone else other than yourself, but you wouldn't know that now, would you? Ms. I-don't-wear-underwear."

Sissy looked at him with a weak laugh as he kicked off his underwear after pulling them down.

"I just don't like the way they feel." she admitted. "They're really...constricting."

"That's kinda kinky if I do say so myself." Matt joked, taking charge and undoing her sash. After undoing it, he let it fall with her yukata doing the same as he pushed it off her shoulders. The two of them were now completely naked with Matt smiling at Sissy as she awkwardly looked back at him. Being playful, Matt grabbed her boobs squishing them back and forth with Sissy letting out a sudden gasp from the touch.

"_Bewbs!_" Matt said like a child. Sissy shoved Matt backwards, making him fall on his butt on the edge of the bed with her crossing her arms.

"I don't think so, mister!" she told him, trying to be dominate again. She edged closer to him, seeing that he had an erection forming. She stared at it feeling unsure with her ability. Matt saw her uncertainty, beckoning her to come closer.

"Sissy," he told her lovingly. "it's okay if you need help with what to do. I promise I'm not going to laugh at you if you're unsure about something."

She looked at him with a weak smile, nodding to him. Matt's erection finally grew all the way with Sissy getting close to him. She moved herself forward, lowering herself above his member with her vaginal lips kissing the head of it with her already wet from the anticipation. With her dropping on top of him finally, she let out a moan with her eyes closing and her mouth partially open.

The two of them sat on one another with Sissy facing Matt. To help her, Matt grabbed her by the sides, bouncing his hips against hers as he began to motion within her, feeling every bit of her insides. It felt really warm, slick, and incredibly inviting. Sissy started to bounce with him as well, working with him now. Matt could feel the dampness of her privates against his groin as well as her fur that rubbed against him as she bounce.

They kept motioning with each other with Sissy panting, having her hands on his shoulders with Matt's hands now on her ass, gripping it. It added to her pleasure when he would squeeze, with Sissy letting out a moan each time he did so. Trying to add even more enjoyment to her little ride she was taking, Matt moved his head forward, managing to grapple his mouth on one of her nipples with her breast bouncing.

Now multitasking, Matt suckled on her tit while still pounding into her and toying with her rear. Sissy looked lost in her pleasure with her bouncing a little less simply because she couldn't focus as well anymore with Matt doing what he was.

A very long noise of ecstasy escaped Sissy's lips as Matt started feeling a pleasure building in his shaft. He was getting close, though had a feeling Sissy had a ways to go. Doing his best to keep going, he thought to himself, telling him to last as long as he could, though knew it was a fleeting hope the closer her got. He heard himself unintentional grunt with his face cringing.

Warmth filled the inner walls of Sissy's love canal with Matt forcing himself to keep going, though couldn't keep the pace with his sexual high raging on. Unable to continue, he had to stop for a second with his fluid running out of Sissy with his member still in her. She was breathing heavily, though he could already tell that she wasn't finished.

"Gimme a minute." he told her. "I gotta catch my breath."

Sissy was frowning, not understanding what he meant.

"But you finished..." she told him, not aware that Matt refused to leave a job undone.

"Just because I finished doesn't mean I'm not going to leave _you_ unsatisfied." he told her. "Would you mind if we switched positions though?"

Sissy blushed, nodding her head. He helped her off of him, motioning for her to get on the bed.

"Put your head down and ass up, sweetheart." he told her. "Unless you've got a problem with that."

Sissy didn't argue with that, doing what he asked of her. She rested her head on her arms with her butt sticking up in the air along with her tail wagging side to side in anticipation. Matt smiled, seeing her practically begging for him with her body language. Not wanting to keep her waiting any longer than she had to, he got on his knees on the bed, grabbing his unit and started to simulated it so it would be ready once more. While doing so, he got close up to her with Sissy wrapping her tail around him, pulling him even closer.

Matt put himself in her with Sissy letting out a subtle moan as he started pumping his hips into her already soaked vaginal walls. His hands were gripped around her hips, feeling her soft tail wrapped around his back every so often move slightly, adding to his enjoyment.

Thrust after thrust, Sissy lost herself in the feeling of him jabbing into her, starting to drool without even realizing it from being so lost in the sex. Her eyes were lulled, feeling every movement, even twitch, and every touch of his hand as he kept going at it. Sissy let out a moan with Matt doing the same, hitting into her hard enough for the sound of his body hitting into hers, barely muffled by the cushion of her fur.

There was a knock at the door, still with Matt pumping into Sissy, who was too out of it mentally to even care. In her state of mind she could have had an entire audience and not notice. All that mattered that moment was the feeling of Matt's dick inside her, having a sexual high, though had a ways to go for an orgasm still. It was like all time had stopped.

"You guys have been in there for a while." Otto's voice called out. "What are you doing?"

Matt took a deep breath, making his voice sound normal.

"Sorry," he hollered while motioning his hips into her, "Sissy's yukata is having some issues. I'm trying to fix it; the stupid sash keeps twisting somehow."

"Oh, okay." Otto responded on the other side of the door, completely buying Matt's lie. "Just wondering."

Matt could have very well just hold him he was having sex with Sissy, though didn't want to ruin the moment or embarrass her. Besides, it was none of his business what the two of them did behind closed doors and he intended on keeping it that way.

Sissy let out another cute moan, still drooling from the pounding. Her tail was still wrapped around his lower back, twitching with each thrust Matt did into her. Matt had kept going at it, refusing to stop until she was satisfied, not caring how long it took.

Time itself was irrelevant, with Matt not realizing that it had been almost forty minutes since the two of them had started having sex. Sissy was enjoying every second of it. The feeling of him inside her was driving her wild, with her sex noises growing louder and louder, making Matt slow down to remind her to not be too loud in fear someone would start knocking again, wondering what they were actually doing. That was the last thing either one of them wanted.

Twenty more minutes passed with Matt still going at it. His muscles felt dead from the constant jerking back and forth with Sissy's nether region so wet from the mixture of hers and his fluids that were being sloshed around it wasn't funny. His grip tightened with Matt feeling himself at his limit for a second time.

Matt came once again, feeling slightly more of his semen leaking into her, but not nearly as much as the first time. Sissy kept panting, still drooling as Matt violently pounded against her body. A few more minutes passed with Sissy's tail tightening around him. She was getting close to her limit.

Sissy's hands clenched the sheets beneath her, letting out a noise out absolute pleasure, feeling herself cum a ridiculous amount with Matt keeping up the speed as she road out her orgasm. Matt finally slowed down as Sissy's tail lowered from behind him, still with her ass up in the air. He pulled himself out of her, flopping over onto his back with Sissy's body finally hitting fully against the bed as well.

She looked at him with the two of them panting, as if she were sorry.

"I didn't mean to take forever..." she told him apologetic. Matt smiled with his mouth open so he could breathe.

"It's fine, sweetheart." he told her with a pant. "I just hope you enjoyed yourself..."

Sissy pulled herself close to him, giving him a very long, loving kiss. The kiss continued on for a while with Matt placing his hand behind her head with Sissy's tail wagging again

There was another knock at the door.

"Dinner's ready guys." they heard Rachel say. Sissy pulled herself away from Matt, flopping over on her back, staring up at the ceiling, completely exhausted just as he was.

"We'll be there in a minute." Matt responded. He tried to sit up, only able to barely budge.

"Well shit..." he mumbled. Sissy started laughing weakly by his side, moving her hand over to his. The two of them laid side by side, holding each others hands.

Sissy's tail was still wagging happily beneath her.

"This looks amazing..." Shade told both Rachel and Doug, eying her plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Without hesitating, she started cutting up her steak, unable to cut fast enough it seemed as she sat on the couch with her meal.

"Thank you very much." Bomber thanked both of them, plucking at his food with his beak with his plate on the floor. Otto was sitting at the kitchen table with Clara, sharing his meal with her. He had to cut small bites of the steak for her, making sure she didn't choke on it. Rachel and Doug were proud of both of their hard work in the kitchen, smiling in approval when they finally got a chance to taste their masterpiece of a meal.

"The steak is great," Rachel told him, "though the mashed potatoes probably could have used a little more salt."

"I agree." Doug told her, reviewing their own cooking. "The green beans turned out well though. What do you guys think?"

Shade was too busy stuffing her face with Bomber contently eating his meal as well.

"It's perfect." Bomber said between bites, swallowing his food whole in small chunks. Being a bird has it's disadvantages, not being able to chew being one of them. Otto fed Clara a green bean with her ears perking up.

"Pika!" she responded happily, approving of the food Otto and her were given.

"You guys did a really good job." Otto told them both, chewing some of his steak.

The sound of Matt's bedroom door was heard opening with both him and Sissy exiting. Both of them looked a little tired, but all and all were completely fine.

"Wardrobe malfunction solved." Matt said aloud, trying to play everything out. Nobody even bothered to consider any other alternatives to what the two of them might have actually been doing, but then again, they really didn't care. They were all enjoying their meals to much.

"Your plates are over on the counter." Doug told them both. The two of them went to the kitchen, grabbing their plates and silverware. Sissy eyed her food, smiling. Having sex followed by being given an amazing meal? Could the day get any better?"

After sitting down on the couch with Matt, the two of them ate with everyone else, enjoying each others company. The only people that were missing out were Laurence, Emie, and Darrell. Shade kept eating, though was beginning to wonder something.

"You guys ever wonder where Laurence keeps heading off to?" She asked. Everyone thought about it, all spread throughout the main part of the suite. Doug, who was eating while leaned against the kitchen counter, just shrugged, not really caring.

"It's really none of our business." he told her. "Why should it matter?"

"I dunno," Shade told them. "It's just weird having him keep saying he has 'business to attend to,' coming back either in the late hours of the night or early hours of the morning. Don't any of you think that's...suspicious?"

"What do you mean?" Sissy asked with her plate in her lap as Matt chewed his steak next to her.

"Maybe he's doing...things." Shade suggested. "He _is_ a Gengar after all."

"Like what?" Rachel asked, starting to get curious as to what it could be that Laurence was doing all of this time.

"You know..." Shade said. "Like touring people and draining their souls by force."

Rachel shook her head.

"Laurence?" she said. "No way."

"Then how do you think he's been feeding?" Shade said raising an important question. "The only two major ways to feed is by either inflicting pain or sexual gratification."

"I can only imagine how _you_ feed." Bomber scoffed. Shade looked at him with an evil eye.

"Keep talking and I'm gonna rob you of your virginity, bird brain."

Bomber shut up, not wanting find out if Shade were serious or not about it.

"I don't know..." Rachel said, slightly losing faith in Laurence. "Maybe he's... finding some other way."

Shade rolled her eyes at the idea.

"Let's just say I have my doubts." She told her honestly. "It's not like he's finding a place to beat his meat and he certainly doesn't strike me as the rapist type."

"Such as yourself?" Bomber added, unable to resist. Shade glared at him for a second time.

"Yes," she told him completely seriously. "**exactly** like me. Want me to prove it?"

Bomber lowered his head, hiding his face from her and shaking his head.

"That's what I thought." she told him with a humph.

The suite door suddenly opened with Laurence and Emie entering. Emie was walking inside this time though had her arm over Laurence so that he could assist her. She painfully was let over to the kitchen table, being sat down on the booth. Sitting across from her, Clara smiled at Emie with mashed potatoes covering her messy face with some of it on Otto's bandana that he had tired around her neck.

"Pikachu!" Clara spoke with her cheeks slightly glowing. Emie blinked, looking miserable.

"Another rough day." Laurence spoke for her with Emie's head wobbling slightly back and forth. "Hang in there, dear. I know this is hard for you, but I know you can finish strong."

Doug walked over to Emie with a plate of food, setting it in front of her along with some silverware beside it.

"Here you go Emie." he told her. Emie's eyes lusted over the food, wanting nothing more than to eat. Her stomached roared with her just staring at the food. Unexpectedly, she leaned forward with her face landing flat into the mashed potatoes. Everyone watched, seeing her not raising her head.

"Is she eating like that?" Rachel asked unsure.

There was the sound of snoring emanating from beneath her, still face first in the mashed potatoes.

Emie had fallen asleep.

_**Emie**_ was laid on the couch after Matt and Doug cleaned her face off, having difficulty getting the mashed potatoes out of her nose. A few hours had passed with everyone making their way to bed. Laurence was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book like he usually did, enjoying some tea, preparing to head out again that night. Otto and Clara had hit the hay, with Rachel doing the same, resting in bed with her Nidoran sleeping outside of it's ball beside her. Rachel's dreams were haunted by uncertainty of the future with her thoughts troubled. It didn't help that she now had to wonder what exactly Laurence was doing.

Darrell had finally made his way home, not saying much to anyone before heading to bed with Doug doing the same. It was a little awkward as always for the two of them had to sleep in the same bed together, but dealt with it anyway. Matt and Sissy too had gone to sleep along with Bomber sleeping in his ball and Shade sleeping within Matt. It was a fairly normal night. Matt had decided not to ask Sissy about Mom's son, unable to bring himself to doing so.

Many more hours passed with Sissy waking up in the middle of the night, needing to go to the bathroom. She got up out of bed, putting on her yukata before exiting the sheets in fear someone might see her while heading to the bathroom. She never knew if Shade might still be awake inside Matt, waiting with one eye open to get a good look at her body.

Sissy made her way to the bathroom, going inside and doing her business. When finished and after washing her hands, she sleepily exited the bathroom, yawning sleepily. Her ears twitched, hearing the sounds of sniffling. She rubbed her eyes, blinking in the dark as she continued to hear the noises. Was somebody crying?

She edged her way out the bedroom door, looking around in the dark, seeing that Laurence was nowhere to be seen. The only person in the room was Emie, who was in a fetal ball on the couch, crying to herself. With her eye adjusting to the dark, Sissy frowned at her as Emie cried.

Slowly approaching her in the dark, Sissy came up close to Emie as she cried, with her face buried in her knees.

"Emie?" Sissy said. Emie quickly looked up from her knees, seeing Sissy staring at her with sad eyes. She adjusted herself on the couch painfully, sitting upwards with her knees still up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Sissy wasn't sure how to address the situation, deciding to sit down next to her. Emie didn't seem to mind, though kept crying. "What's wrong?"

Emie didn't respond, looking dead ahead into the darkness, feeling as if her world had come to an end. She was in pain and her heart felt like it had been shattered into a million tiny pieces that could never be fully put together. Sissy watched as a tear rolled down Emie's face.

"Emie," she told her, "I know you have ever right to hate me for taking Matt." Sissy sighed, putting her hands in her lap. "I can't express how sorry I am. I didn't mean for you to be miserable. You don't have any reason to listen to me, and I get that, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you if you need to vent or just talk."

Emie continued to cry, looking straight forward still.

"_Emie is sorry that she's stupid and not good enough to do anything_..." she told her suddenly in her natural Pokemon language, still not wearing her collar. "_Emie has always been dumb and untalented. Mikhail told Emie that a lot, but Emie didn't listen. Emie...Emie thought that Emie wasn't good for nothing, but Emie was wrong..._"

Sissy frowned at Emie, feeling sorrow for her.

"Mikhail was wrong, Emie." Sissy told her. "You're not stupid or untalented. From what Bomber told me, that bastard Mikhail should be burned alive. He did very bad things to you Emie; things that you didn't deserve for you to happen to you."

Emie looked at Sissy, a little confused, but accepting of her kindness.

"Can I tell you something, Emie?" Sissy asked her. Emie nodded. "I was jealous of you and Matt when you two were getting along. You make him happy and you're a good person to be around. I've been a complete bitch to you ever since we met and I'm sorry, Emie. You've always been the bigger person when it's come between us and I'd like to say that I'm sorry for treating you so badly."

Both of them looked at each other with Emie sniffling still.

"Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?" Sissy asked her. Emie suddenly reached out towards Sissy, giving her a hug, starting to sob even more. The pain of being torn apart by Master Nagato and all of her other emotional problems began to come forth, unable to hold back the tears.

"_Emie hurts really bad..."_ she cried. Sissy did the unthinkable, hugging Emie back and genuinely caring for her. She patted her back as they hugged.

"I know, Emie..." Sissy told her. "I know..."

Emie continued to cry on Sissy's shoulder, balling like a child. In between her tears, Emie had to ask Sissy an important question.

"_Can Emie and Sissy be friends?"_ she asked her in mid cry. Sissy smiled, still hugging her as Emie let out her emotions and pain.

"Yes," Sissy told her. "I would like that..."

And so, the birth of a new friendship took place that night as Emie continued to cry with Sissy comforting her pain..

The rain could still be heard pounding against the window outside...


	55. Chapter 55

_**Chapter 55**_

Darrell quickly reached behind his pillow, pulling out his gun and aiming it towards the darkness of the room. His hands were trembling and sweat was pouring down his face.

The sound of rain was the only thing that could be heard...

He lowered his handgun as he sat in bed with Doug, who was sleeping soundlessly beside him on top of the sheets. Even after telling himself it was only a nightmare his body refused to settle. His heart was beating out of his chest, pumping irregularly. Darrell's eyes quickly adjusted towards the different parts of the room where he swore he saw something moving in the shadows. After a while, he convinced himself that there wasn't anything else in the room.

Four more days had passed with each of them being just as horrid as the last. Darrell moved himself to the side of the bed with his breathing now heavy and his thoughts racing. The visions of him shooting heads, watching as blood burst from them like balloons made him quake, even if it was just a distant memory. The sweat coming from his face was running down to his bare chest. He had only been sleeping in his pants.

The rain was driving him mad. It was all he had been hearing for weeks. Each droplet that echoed in his ears reminded him of the days taking prior, having beaten people, threatening to cut off fingers, or even kill them.

With his gun still in hand, he put his other hand up and swooped his hair back, leaving his fingers between it. He stared at his gun, looking at the details that he had come to know over the years of owning it. He'd forgotten the grooves and the single nick it had on the side of it. The silver mark stood out from it. To Darrell it looked like a twisted smirk, as if his gun was pleased by all that it had done over the years and the lives that it had taken.

It looked hungry for blood.

Unable to take it anymore, Darrell shoved the gun back under his pillow so he didn't have to look at it. Out of habit and paranoia, he kept his handgun close to him when he slept. Never had anyone attempted to kill him in his sleep, but he was never the type of person to take unnecessary risks. So, under his pillow it would stay when he slept- if he could even consider calling what he had each night as 'sleep.'

Darrell sat there on the edge of the bed, contemplating the entirety of his stay with Matt and his friends. Every night was the same, consisting of a terrible dream shocking him out of his already fragile state of slumber. The only thing that would calm him was the thought of Athena. At least there was _something_ to calm him. Her name alone made his heart stop fluttering, returning to it's normal state.

Out of the corner of his eye, Darrell noticed the duffel bag that he shared with Doug sitting near the nightstand on his side. He glanced at it, thinking deeply to himself. What _was_ he anymore? What was he becoming? Numerous thoughts invaded his mind with anxiety taking over again.

He reached down near the duffel bag, stretching to reach it. With an unzip, he opened the duffel bag, staring at everything they owned, most of which being costumes and outfits. Staring back at him was his mask- the mask that he wore when he'd taken lives. It's eye holes appeared to be eyes themselves, staring back into his soul. The gray mask or iron and it's 'mouth' made from a large scratch almost yearned for him to hold it.

Now in his hands, Darrell kept staring at the mask. It felt like it was a living thing that he had known for years, being by his side through thick and thin. What would it say if it could talk, he wondered.

"_We've had so many fun times!_" it would probably tell Darrell. He contemplated this, still holding it in both of his hands. "_Why can't we go out and have fun again?_"

Darrell glared at the mask.

The sound of vibrating came from the nightstand, making Darrell drop his mask in sudden fright. The vibrating was coming from the cell phone Hugo had given him, rumbling against the surface of the nightstand. He quickly grabbed it, flipping it open and putting it to his ear.

"Hey." Darrell said sounding tired, knowing that it was Hugo already.

"I'm sorry I'm calling you so late, champ." Hugo apologized. "I've got a problem that needs your special skills."

There was a pause on Darrell's side, not sure how to respond to such a statement.

"This isn't about killing anyone, is it?" he asked.

"No, no," Hugo told him. "I just need your help with one of the girls. We got a new one yesterday who's nearly killed one of our clients. She actually tried to take a bite out of me too."

"A _bite_?" Darrell repeated.

"Yeah," Hugo told him. "we managed picked up a Pokemon yesterday and ever since then she's been nothing but trouble. I couldn't call you until later considering I had to deal with some other business. There's this ninjutsu school that's been pissing me the fuck off and I got some new technology I've been trying to figure out. Just random bullshit- you know how it is."

"I understand." Darrell told him. "What do you need me to do exactly thought."

"Tear this bitch down." Hugo told him. "I need you to at least settle down and get her under control. If anyone could do that it's you. The Sentearo Brothers offered to help, but I think you know why I said no."

Darrell's blood ran ice cold from their names alone.

"I'll be over there as soon as I can."

"See you soon." Hugo told him, hanging up afterward. Darrell set his phone in his lap, letting out a sigh. No rest for the wicked, it seemed.

Getting out of bed proved to be easy considering he was already sitting up, not to mention wouldn't be able to go back to bed due to his night-terror. He started getting fully dressed, putting on his shirt that he had previously folded neatly beside the bed under the nightstand near the duffel bag. His mask that he had dropped on the floor watched as he got ready for his early day, now putting on socks and tying on his shoes.

Before leaving, Darrell grabbed his gun, putting between the back of his pants. He looked down at the mask on the floor, seeing it still looking up at him. He bend down, picking up and holding it in both hands for a second time, just staring at it. There was a silence with the rain outside still lightly tapping against the window.

"_It's only a matter of time_." his mask seemingly said, just by the way it stared at him. Darrell frowned, tossing in into the duffel bag and making his way towards the bedroom door.

He could feel his mask watching him.

Trying to be as quiet as possibly, Darrell shut the door lightly in fear of waking Doug or anyone else for that matter. Treading softly along the carpeted floor of the suite, Darrell made his way towards the suite door, seeing the the television was on with it's volume on low. The only reason it caught his eye was because the television was the only light source in the room. The sight of a romantic movie made him stop for a moment. There was a woman and a man, both being human, holding each other. Clearly being a sappy scene.

"Please don't ever leave me again!" the woman begged him, with her long and flowing blonde hair being picked up by the breeze, both standing underneath a tree made of oak. The camera panned to the side, getting a better look at the bark of the tree. There was a heart with two names written within it.

"I couldn't if I tried." the male could be heard telling her, still with the camera pointed at the heart craved out of the tree. Darrell rolled his eyes. Who the hell actually enjoyed these movies? Darrell heard a sniffle on the couch. He quietly approached the couch, looking over it to see a girl wearing short shorts, a purple shirt, and flip flops laying on her side, watching the movie with tears in her eyes.

"Shade?" Darrell quietly whispered. Her red eyes widened with the tears still in them. She quickly sat up, reaching for the remote and pausing the movie she had been watching. The sight of Darrell made her panic, not knowing what to tell him.

"W-what are you doing up?!" she said startled. "Shouldn't you be sleeping or something?!"

Darrell blinked, switching eye contact from the TV and Shade repeatedly.

"I didn't know you liked those kinds of movies?" Darrell said fairly surprised. "Even if we haven't really gotten to know each other that well, I thought you'd be the kind of person that would loath stuff like this."

Shade glared at him, still with her mind racing, trying to think of something to tell him.

"Well...I do!" she finally told him upset. "I was just watching it to...to...see how stupid it was! I was bored and had nothing else to do all night so I thought I should watch one of these dumb movies...to laugh at..."

Darrell frowned, not sure what to tell her. Considering she _was_ a Haunter, not needing to really sleep, maybe she was just trying to pass the time with a movie. Darrell glanced down near the stand of the television, seeing a whole stack of movies. It was hard to read in the dark, but it looked like they were all similar themed movies, all romantic love films.

"But you were crying..." Darrell told her, not being judgmental. On the contrary, he sounded rather understanding. Shade looked mad with her red eyes appearing as if they would burst into flames any second.

"That's because it was so horrible!" she told him angrily. "That's it!"

Darrell held back a smile, giving her an understanding nod of his head.

"Okay," he told her, "I didn't mean to upset you. Let everyone know I had to go in early, would you?"

"A-alright." Shade said with her voice slightly faltering. "Only if you promise to never speak of this...ever."

"Understood." Darrell told her seriously, wanting to smile at her. He quietly made his way to the door, reaching his hand out to open it.

The door suddenly opened with Laurence being the one to do so. Darrell quickly moved back with Laurence and him looking into each others eyes. Laurence forced himself to try and act civil, in no mood to argue or even be angry for that matter

"I see you're going out to do business." Laurence told him. There was a hint of pain in his voice. Not the kind of emotional pain you might hear in a sad man's voice, but the kind you could hear from your body being subjected to physical pain. Darrell could tell, having had that same voice more than a few times in his life, usually right after being shot. He glanced down at Laurence's hands, seeing there was a black liquid making it's way down the back of his hand. It looked like his blood.

"Are you alright?" Darrell asked sounding legitimately concerned. Laurence stepped past him, not bothering to answer his question. Shade froze up, praying that Laurence wouldn't notice the movie she had paused on screen. Lucky for her, he didn't, making his way to Rachel's room. He entered and closed the door behind him. Darrell decided to not bother prying. Whatever it was, it wasn't his business. He made his way out of the suite, leaving Shade sitting on the couch, who let out a sigh of relief.

Laurence tried to be as quiet as possible. He felt himself nearly trip when he entered the bathroom, wondering if he had overdone it this time. After closing the door behind him, he turned on the light, cringing in pain while some of his blood dripped from his hand and down onto the floor. The pain was intense, more than he was used to. And yet, the feeding felt much less satisfying than it should have. He stumbled towards the sink, grabbing onto the counter to support his weight.

He made his upper suit disappear, seeing the marks all over his chest, his arms, and his neck. The wounds hadn't had a chance to fully heal from the night before, regretting his choice to feed so soon after. But if he didn't he felt as if he would die. It was getting harder and harder for him to stay alive. The pain was almost too much to bare, even for him.

Even in his attempt to keep things quiet, Rachel pushed open the door to the bathroom, having heard him come in, having woken up from her light sleep.

"Laurence, is that y-" Rachel stopped in mid sentence, seeing Laurence's condition. Even in his state, he forced himself to give her a smile.

"Good evening," he told her, "or rather, good morning. Please forgive me for waking you, my-"

"What the hell happened to you?!" Rachel exclaimed, completely cutting him off. She quickly rushed over to him with Laurence, putting out his hand before she could come to close to him.

"I assure you, mistress," he told her politely, "I'm fine."

She grabbed his wrist and threw it to the side, making her way closer to him so she could get a better look at the marks. Rachel soon took action, grabbing a small towel that hung on the side of the wall and turned on the sink.

"Clearly you're not!" she told him upset. "What'd you do? Get into a fight with a wood chipper?!"

Rachel got the towel damp, ringing it out before placing it against Laurence's chest. She began to dab his wounds, being a little more rough than she intended.

"Mistress," Laurence told her sounding slightly in pain. "believe me when I say it is not as bad as it may appear."

Rachel put the towel under the sink again, washing out the blood she had gotten on it, watching the blackness twirling down the drain. She rung it out again, applying it back to his wounds.

"Quit avoiding answering the question!" she told him angrily. "Who the hell did this to you!"

Laurence watched her as she kept trying to clean his blood off of him.

"Please," Laurence said patiently. "you don't have to-"

"Who!" Rachel yelled, getting mad at him. Laurence sighed, politely keeping eye contact.

"I did, my Lady." he told her.

Rachel looked at him as if he were lying.

"You mean to tell me that _you_ did this to yourself?" she responded doubtfully.

"Yes, mistress, I did." he told her seriously. Rachel momentarily halted from washing the blood off of him, now a little more upset than before.

"Why the hell would you do this to yourself?!" she yelled enraged. Laurence was a little taken back by how upset she was getting with him.

"Because I have too." Laurence explained to her. "If I didn't I would have no way to feed."

Rachel blinked, thinking back at what Shade had told her.

_"The only two major ways to feed is by either inflicting pain or sexual gratification."_ Shade had told her days ago, while they were eating the steak meal she and Doug had created. Rachel never suspected Laurence to be the rapist type nor the kind of person to go out and kill people, but she had never actually considered that he might be inflicting pain on himself to survive.

"Is that what you've been doing?" she asked him. "You've been leaving so you could do...do _this_ to yourself?"

Laurence nodded.

"It is not as effective as harming or killing others," he told her honestly, "but it keeps me from dying. Forgive me for not telling you before. I apologize if I have upset you."

Rachel furrowed her brow with her emotions mixed.

"Well you have!" she told him upset, still tending to his self inflicted wounds. Even if she was upset, she couldn't necessarily get mad at his intentions. "Why can't you just..."

She scowled, muttering something under her breath as she rinsed off the rag again. Rachel finally looked up at him with an angry look still burning in her eyes. Even so, there was a hint of sadness and fear.

"Fine," she told him sternly. "the next time you need to feed, come to me."

Laurence was taken back by his mistresses demand.

"M-my Lady!" he told her almost in shock. "You can not be serious!"

"And why not?" she told him, not seeing what was wrong with it. "It's not that big of a deal. You can be as rough as you like; whatever feeds you."

"M-mistress!"

Rachel suddenly set down the rag, placing it next to the sink, then reached down for her shirt. She pulled it off with Laurence growing more uncomfortable than he had in thousands of years. He refused to look at her as she now was in her bra, which was a sports bra to be exact.

"Look." she told him, pointing at her stomach. Laurence had his reservations, though managed to finally look at her. What he saw surprised him. On her stomach were marks, though from what he did not know. They were small enough to look as if they had hurt, however didn't appear to be too extreme. "I usual cut myself up when I'm upset, but the next time you need to feed come to me. You can inflict pain on me; I'm not going to mind."

This was certainly unexpected for Laurence, who had assumed that she were implying for him to do something a little less...gentlemanly. Even so, this discovery of self inflicted pain was displeasing.

"Mistress..." he told her. "Why on earth would you harm such a temple like yours?"

Rachel slid her shirt back over her, rolling her eyes at him.

"I _might_ be a masochist." she told him not really caring. "So what? Besides, it makes me feel better."

"But my Lady, surely you can't expect me to harm you in such a barbaric manner." Laurence told her sincerely. "I would never dream of causing you pain."

Rachel frowned at him, seeing the marks still all over his chest.

"Too bad." she told him. "The next time you need to feed you are to tell me. That's an order. Understood?"

"Mistress, I-"

"Good." Rachel told him, reaching for the towel on the counter, applying it to his wounds again. "Now hush up and let me try to clean this blood off you."

Laurence obediently remained silent, allowing Rachel to follow through with treating his wounds.

"_**You're**_ telling me this thing scans what it shoots?" Hugo inquired as both of the Sentearo brothers stood in front of him with a briefcase in his lap. Each dressed in nice suits, having matching blond hair, and almost identical faces, they both smiled in unison. The only way to tell them apart was by the ties. Noel Sentero wore a red tie while Neal wore a blue one.

"That is correct," Noel Sentearo told Hugo, both hands in his pockets. His voice sounded very charmed and a little too joyous. It was a little uneasy to hear, even for Hugo. "it will, it will indeed. Isn't that right, brother."

"That it is, that it is, my brother." Neal chimed to his brother. "It does certainly so."

Hugo stared at the case, tapping his fingers against the side.

"I don't suppose this will be cheap." Hugo said sounding discouraged. Both Sentearo brothers laughed lightly together in perfect unison, being even more unnerving to listen to.

"We want you to have it as a gift," Noel told Hugo light hearted and blissful. "a wonderful gift indeed. Isn't it wonderful, my brother?"

"It certainly is a wonderful gift," Neal agreed. "a marvelous gift."

Hugo looked at them suspiciously, not sure how to react to them just _giving_ him the piece of gear for free. The two of them had always been a bit odd and Hugo had learned to never look a gift-horse in the mouth. But to hand over something so expensive and without even the slightest hint of reservation or resistance was very hard to accept. No one just gave away multibillion tab equipment.

"I thank you both." Hugo told them dryly, in the back of his mind having doubts.

Being let in by the grunt watching the door, as Hugo always made sure of at nights, Darrell entered the Candy Club, seeing it empty. There were no girls forced to grind on one another or men feeling them up. The music was off to, making Darrell walk through the dimly lit club towards Hugo with his footsteps being heard against the flooring. Hugo moved his head to the side to look past the Sentearo brothers, still sitting on his couch with the case in his lap.

"Ah," Hugo said pleased, "good to see you came as quickly as you did."

The Sentearo brothers both turned at the same time, looking at Darrell with bright blue eyes and happy smiles. It almost made him trip.

"Hello Darrell," Noel said merrily. "it has been such a long time! Hasn't it, brother?"

"That it has, brother." Neal responded just as cheerful. "that it has indeed."

Darrell had known the Sentearo brothers ever since he'd been a Shadow Assassin for Team Rocket. When he was still enrolled, Darrell had heard stories about the two of them, all being dark and disturbing. There was a rumor that they had each eaten human flesh after each kill they had preformed. There was also a rumor about the two of them being lovers, despite being brothers. Darrell wasn't sure which was more frightening. He forced himself to be hospitable.

"It's been a while." he told them. Hugo's head turned when the sound of cladding feet was made. It was one of the grunts that had been upstairs trying to keep the new Pokemon under control. He was holding his arm with blood running down it. He stumbled, tripping and falling on his knees near Hugo.

"She's not settling down!" the grunt told him worried. "She's already practically torn that room apart! We managed to use inject her with the stuff, but she's still too strong!"

Hugo cursed, making Darrell wonder what 'stuff' the grunt was talking about. Looking towards Darrell, Hugo let out a sigh.

"You think you can calm her down?" Hugo asked. Darrell nodded.

"I shouldn't be too hard." Darrell told him, not even sure what he was going up against.

"Good." Hugo told him. "She's in room five on the Pokemon floor. I'd advise you to hurry before she ends up killing someone or doing any more damage than she already has."

Darrell nodded, quickly making haste towards the stairs.

"Good luck Darrell." Noel Sentearo told him as he began to climb the stairs.

"Yes, Darrell," Neal added. "Good luck."

Darrell refused to look back at them.

"Fucking creeps..." he mumbled under his breath.

He finally made it to the second floor, easily finding the fifth room by the grunts standing outside the door. A loud crashing noise was heard from inside as they all cringed. Most of them had bruises and cuts, showing just how badly the situation was going. Darrell hurried, reaching for his gun behind them as his footsteps caught the attention of the grunts outside the door.

"Is anyone in there?" Darrell asked them.

"Hell no," one of the grunts told him, who was sitting with his back up against the wall. "we already tried doing it ourselves and nearly died! Hugo doesn't pay us enough for this shit!"

Darrell heard another crashing noise inside along with the tearing of fabric. One of the grunts actually covered his ears to the sound of feral snarls coming from inside. There was a large claw mark on his shoulder with part of his Team Rocket jacket missing.

"Just make it stop!" he begged, clearly about to have a mental break down. Darrell got close to the door with his gun raised. He felt an hand touch his shoulder. Darrel turned, seeing one of the men looking at him. In his hand other hand was an empty syringe.

"We dosed her with stuff that forces her to stay in her human-like form." the guy told him. "But she's still a killer. Don't let looks deceive you."

He let got of his arm, backing away from Darrell as he put his hand on the door handle. Pushing the door open slowly, it grew suddenly quiet. The men watched as he closed the door behind him, not sure if they would be seeing him exit again.

The room was a mess. There were fabrics torn up, the bed was flipped over with the frame still on it's side, the dresser was clawed to hell with chunks of wood missing, and the stripper pole literally had a bite taken out of it. It was dark with only the window casting a slight amount of moonlight inside the room. It cast a strange design on the floor from the curtains having been shredded as well. Darrell had a nervous feeling in his gut.

He took a step forward with his shoe lightly tapping on the floorboard. There was a shuffling noise behind the bed frame that had been flipped over. Darrell raised his gun towards it slowly, seeing that there were even marks on the wooden bed frame as well. He squinted, seeing more than just markings. Curious, he took another step towards the flipped over bed frame.

His gun slightly lowered, seeing the squiggly lines craved onto the bed frame. Darrell wasn't positive, but it looked like water. There was another of an egg, being a lopsided oval with a design on it as well. To add to the strangeness, there was another picture. There was a picture of a large dragon with another by it's side. They appeared to be holding hands with a tiny little squiggle between them. Darrell moved his head close, focusing on the squiggle. It looked like some sort of serpent.

There was the sound a something crying softly behind the bed, making Darrell quickly raise his gun. Taking his time to side step, he patiently made his way around the bed frame with his heart nearly beating out of his chest. There was no telling what this thing was. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to discover.

A silver haired little girl was sitting with her back against the bed frame with her knees up to her chest. Her skin was a light blue and she wore tattered rags as clothes. They seemed to have been torn up slightly from her angered state. The little silver haired girl turned her head to Darrell, exposing her matching silver eyes with tears running down her face. She snarled at him, making Darrell quickly step back with his gun still raised.

A dumbstruck expression overcame him. Here he was, pointing his gun at a little girl Pokemon with his finger on the trigger. _This_ was what Hugo had picked up? _She_ was intended as a sex slave? He shook his head disgusted, lowering his gun all the way down. There was no way in hell he was shooting her. Very slowly, he lowered himself to one knee, setting down his gun to show her that he meant no harm.

She snarled at him, baring her unnaturally sharp teeth, setting her hand down on the floor. The little Pokemon began to claw the floorboards as if to intimidate him. Darrell looked into her silver eyes, unable to look away from her in a mixture of surprise and wonderment.

"You're a Dratini, aren't you?" Darrell said to her. She looked at him with angry eyes, not saying a word. After a minute of silence, she nodded slowly. Darrell felt a ting of pain in his heart for her, though kept his distance. Even if she was young, she was incredibly deadly. How Hugo had managed to get his hands on one was beyond him.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Darrell told her, taking a brave step forward. The little Dratini girl snarled at him, making Darrell stop in his tracks. He looked into her eyes, seeing that she had a lost and lonely look in them. A little Dratini, probably only a few hundred years old, taken from it's home and forced to be some sex slave. It was only a child.

**The way each Pokemon age at times can be fairly different than humans and animals. Most Pokemon grow and mature normally, at the same rate as a humans. However, there are different variables involved. Some Pokemon live much longer than humans, having primes lasting longer as well. In addition to growth, when a Pokemon evolves, they physically grow in age, becoming more matured and refined. Some Pokemon only age **_**when**_** they evolve, such as Dratinis.**

Darrell took another bold step forward with his arms up to show her he meant no harm.

"You were taken from your home, weren't you?" Darrell said sympathetically. The Dratini watched Darrell kneel down only a few feet away from her, which was possibly one of the ballsyist things he'd ever done. If the Dratini really wanted to, it most likely could have torn his throat out. Instead, she stared at him with another tear running down her face. She weakly nodded her head, though still looked angry.

"These people that took you are horrible." Darrell told her, looking her in the eye. "I promise you that I'm not here to do anything hurtful to you."

The Dratini looked down at the floor, pulling her legs even closer to her, starting to cry again. Unsure where his courage was even coming from, Darrell edged his way towards her, finally moving off of his knees and onto his backside, sitting beside her as she cried. For some reason, she didn't attack him. She was too busy crying to care. Darrell just sat beside her, not saying a word. He listened to her cry with his heart hurting for her. Suddenly he sighed, feeling sorrow for her.

"I bet you miss you're mother and father, don't you?" Darrell told her. The Dratini stopped crying, only for a moment, to look up to Darrell, seeing him staring off towards the back of the room they were facing. The sounds of children crying over there dead parents rang in Darrell's ears. "I know what it's like for someone to loose their parents. I'm sorry it happened to you."

He turned, seeing the Dratini staring back at him confused. Why on earth was he talking to her? Why wasn't he trying to drug her or hurt her like the rest of the men that came in before had tried to do? There was something about this strange man that made her feel very confused. He didn't act like the others nor acted afraid of her. She still wasn't sure if she very much cared for him though.

"I can't believe they wanted me to try and take you down." Darrell said with a shake of his head. "It wasn't like they were expecting this by any means. I knew Hugo wasn't a saint, but to harm someone as young as yourself is just sick."

The Dratini blinked with Darrell lost in his own thoughts. All of this was wrong. He turned his head towards her, seeing a look just as confused as before. An idea was starting to form in the back of his head with him smiling suddenly.

"You're pretty dangerous." he told her. "It would be a shame if nobody could control you. That would certainly be a problem. Hugo would have to get himself a professional tamer who specializes with dragons, wouldn't he?"

The Dratini cocked her head to the side, wondering what Darrell was talking about.

"I don't think you want to be here any more than I don't want you to be." Darrell told her. "How about we fool that fat guy downstairs and getting you out of here?"

The Dratini blinked once again, unsure as to what Darrell was planning. He began to explain to her his idea and how they could easily fool Hugo. The more she heard the more the tears in her eyes began to dry. He went into detail, explaining everything and how they would do it. The little Dratini thought it was a good idea, being clever enough to understand how this would work, following his logic perfectly.

"Does that sound like a good plan?" Darrell asked her. The Dratini quietly nodded her head.

"_**He's**_ been in there a long time..." one of the grunts near the door said, with none of them hearing anything for over an hour. They all tried to listen to the door..

"You think he's dead?" another grunt asked.

There was a loud crashing noise heard come from inside, sounding like something broke.

"Down!" Darrell's voice yelled from within. "I said down!"

All of the grunts literally jumped away from the door when it was flung open, seeing Darrell walking out with the Dratini bound by some of the fabric from the curtains curtains, tying her hands behind her back. She snarled and snapped at the men outside with Darrell having a firm grip on the back of her tied hands. On Darrell's face was a large scratch that was drawing blood, running down his face.

"No!" Darrell yelled. The Dratini obeyed, but gave the men an evil glare. They all stumbled away from them as Darrell walked the Dratini towards the stairs. All of them were amazed by such skill! Darrell had actually controlled the beast! Or so they believed...

"Good job..." Darrell whispered, making their way down the stairs. "Keep doing what you're doing."

They're plan was working, though Darrell had wished the Dratini wasn't so hard on his face, even if he had asked her to make it look convincing.

The moment Hugo saw the Dratini and Darrell, he jumped back off of his couch, backing away as the Dratini snapped towards him. The Sentearo brothers were nowhere to be found, making Darrell assume that they had left already. Forcing himself to get in the zone, Darrell prepared for a storm of bullshit he was about to spew.

"This little freak nearly snapped my neck in half." Darrell lied with Hugo still fearing the snarling Dratini. "Don't worry, she's not going anywhere."

The Dratini let out a hiss with Darrell yanking on the fabric that had bound her hands together.

"I said **no**!" he told her harshly. She listened, following through with the act they were putting on for Hugo. Having no reason to doubt any of it, Hugo marveled Darrell.

"I can't believe you're actually controlling her!" he said amazed. Darrell frowned with a shrug.

"She's a lot of work." Darrell told him. "She's only going to listen to someone with experience handling Dragon types."

Hugo nearly tripped backwards as the Dratini snapped at him again.

"You have experience with them?" Hugo said surprised, hiding the fear in his voice. Darrell nodded his head.

"Yes I do." he lied. "My father had a Dragonite when I was a kid and taught me how to handle them. You've just got to show force and that you're in charge. To be perfectly frank, I don't think she's going to be a good girl when it comes to submitting, if you catch my drift. She'd most likely bite anything off that came her way, if you know what I mean."

Hugo swallowed hard. The last thing he needed was to have a customer's dick being torn off after trying to put it in that _thing's_ face. He nodded swiftly, edging backwards away from Darrell and the Dratini.

"Oh no, I know what you mean, trust me." Hugo told him. "Damn it, why on earth did I think that this would be a good idea? I should have seen this shit coming!"

Darrell frowned at Hugo as if feeling sorry for him. In reality, Darrell couldn't have been any happier at that moment. His plan was working.

"I could take her off your hands if you needed me to." Darrell told him. "I'd even do it for free."

Hugo was nearly baffled by such generosity.

"You'd do that?!" Hugo said almost sounding in disbelief. Darrell nodded with the Dratini still putting on a show of anger towards Hugo.

"Of course." Darrell told him. "You've been so kind to me by giving me work. It's the least I could do."

Hugo quickly reached down towards the couch, grabbing the Dratini's Pokeball. He tossed it to Darrell, who caught it with one hand while still holding onto the Dratini with the other.

"I can't thank you enough!" Hugo told him. "I don't care how much money I lost on this stupid Dratini! Just get it away from me and my business!"

"Yes sir." Darrell told him with a smirk. "Will you be needing anything else today?"

Hugo shook his head.

"No no," Hugo told him. "this is plenty! Thank you!"

Darrell began to walk the Dratini in her raggedy clothes towards the entrance of the Candy Club. With their backs turned to Hugo, Darrell couldn't help but to smile, not believing that his plan to trick Hugo had worked so well. The Dratini showed little emotion, not sure how to feel about having Darrell now as her owner. He wasn't too bad, she supposed.

They exited the club with the grunt watching the door nearly leaping in the air from fright when he saw the Dratini growling at him. The rain was still coming down, starting to get both Darrell and the Dratini wet. He hurried across the muddy street with her, getting his shoes covered in muck and getting her bare feet dirty.

Finally out of sight of everyone, Darrell undid the bindings around the Dratini's wrists, which she could have easily broken free of. Despite appearing to be a small girl, the Dratini was insanely powerful. The part about Darrell's father owning a Dragonite was true, though he had never dared get close to it for that very reason. He'd seen what Dragon Pokemon were capable of first hand.

"You did a good job." Darrell told her. She looked up at him, rubbing her wrists as the rain kept down pouring on both of them. Darrell covered his head with the Dratini not seeming to mind, being used to living in water most of her life. She looked at him very unsure as he held her Pokeball in his hand. He turned it around, looking at the DNA registration button.

"I guess I'll be you're new trainer for the time being." he told her. "It's funny. Never thought _I'd_ be a trainer."

The Dratini watched as Darrell pressed down on the button, having it prick his finger and read his DNA.

Darrell now had himself a Dratini (whether she approved or not).

With the Dratini now his, he looked at her as he held the Pokeball in his hand.

"I'd ask you if you'd like to go into your ball," Darrell told her, "but from what I know about Dragon types, you're too used to being free and in charge."

She nodded slowly. He gave her a smile back.

There was a very loud roar that come from her.

Her stomach to be more specific.

"How about we find a place to get something to eat?" he told her.

_**At**_ five in the morning, there are very few places to go eat at, even more so in Pewter city, being a humble place with traditional values and standards. With that said, Darrell couldn't believe it when he stumbled across a waffle house that was open. Not only was it open, but it was probably the most culturally different place in Pewter city. The waitresses wore pink dresses with white aprons, the place had booths with menus laid on them, and the atmosphere was so damn cheery Darrell felt like he was at an amusement park.

Him and the Dratini had found a place to sit, being some of the only people in the waffle house. Darrell sat across from the Dratini in the booth as she sat there, kicking her legs as most children did when they were bored. She busily took in all of the colors and happy music that played in the place, making her feel...uneasy.

The pictures on the wall were all just as odd as the place was, having a mascot who looked like a waffle in each one of them, being in silly poses. The stupidity of it all made her head hurt. Even if she was a child, she'd been around for hundreds of years, never once seeing anything so ridiculous. The only thing that was appealing to her was the smell in the place. She smelt vanilla, having never smelt it before in her life.

"Sorry this is the only place we could find." Darrell apologized to her. She didn't seem to hear him, too busy listening to the happy-go-lucky music being lightly placed throughout the place. It was almost too happy to her. She was still trying to understand what on earth a waffle was, let alone why everyone working inside the place was so happy.

A waitress came to their table, in an identical getup like the rest of the people working there. All Darrell could see were woman working, getting the strange feeling this was some sort of weird brothel too. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the stress that reminded him of the Candy Club. The waitresses had the biggest smile on her face, as if ecstatic to be able to serve them.

"Good morning!" she said giddily. "Do you know what you'd like to order?"

She looked at the Dratini, giving her a warm and welcoming smile. The Dratini moved her head back, not liking this one bit. The urge to attack her was strong, but didn't.

"_Ohhhh!_" the waitress said, reveling to be a complete airhead. "What a cute little Pokemon~!"

Darrell could see the tension coming from the Dratini, knowing it wasn't going to end well if she kept acting like this. The waitress reached in her apron pocket, pulling out a small covering book and a handful of crayons.

"Here you go, cutey!" the woman said to her as the Dratini stared at the strange book before her. Not sure what the hell it was, the Dratini picked up one of the crayons, smelling it curiously.

"I'll just have some coffee." Darrell told the waitress as he quickly read through the menu. "My Dratini will have a small plate of waffles."

The waitresses scribbled down their orders with the Dratini still examining the strange things the woman had given to her. Darrell handed the woman their menus with the Dratini now staring at the book.

"Thank you very much!" the waitress told them, a little over excited in Darrell's opinion. "I'll be right out with your order!"

She soon left the two of them, making her way towards the kitchen with her notepad still in hand. Darrell glanced over to the Dratini, watching as she opened the book, seeing that the pages were colorless. She stared at the purple crayon in her hand, then at the white page with the outline of a Pikachu on it. She hadn't a clue as to what correlation the two things had with one another.

"That's a coloring book." Darrell tried to explain to her. "You're supposed to use the crayons to make it colorful."

The Dratini looked up at him at a loss, blinking with a very lost look in her eye. Darrell reached over, grabbing one of the Crayons. Being a blue on, he took it and started to motion it against the Pikachu's eye. The Dratini watched him carefully, amazed to see that the color of the crayon had made it's way onto the paper. What sorcery was this?!

"See?" he told her. "All you have to do is fill in the white spaces. It's easy."

Taking a stab at things, the Dratini pushed the crayon against the paper, scribbling back and forth on the paper. Before her eyes, she was coloring the Pikachu's forehead purple. It made Darrell smile as she continued to color in the Pikachu, not bothering to stay within the lines. Her ragged clothes made Darrell frown, soon leaning his head on his hand as he planted his elbow on the table's surface.

"I should probably find you something better to wear as well..." Darrell mumbled to himself, going unheard as the Dratini kept coloring.

The Dratini just ignored Darrell, too busy scribbling all over the Pikachu.

It was hard to tell if she were happy or not considering she refused to smile.

_**Emie**_ entered the ninjutsu school that morning, having come there by herself for once. Master Nagato was drinking his tea on the floor like usual as Emie made her way towards him in her training clothes she had put on before arriving. She approached him, respectfully bowing her head before him as she always did each morning.

His eye were closed, already knowing that she had entered. Over the past few days of training, he had gotten used to the sound of her footsteps. Master Nagato took a deep breath, then exhaled peacefully as Emie continued to stand before him.

"Sit." he instructed. She did as she was told, sitting down in front of him as he sipped his tea.

"You have made minor progress." he told her, still with shut eyes, "though I suppose you haven't been completely unteachable. I am to assume that you are yearning to learn the ways of the ninja soon. Am I correct?"

He opened his eyes, seeing Emie nod with a smile appearing. He too smiled, reaching beside him and grabbing a steel ball no larger than the size of his palm. Emie watched as he held it in his hand with it pointed out towards her. Emie grew even more excited.

"I can only teach you the necessary skills if you learn to-"

Emie snatched it out of his hand quickly with a smug smile on her face. She had successfully taken the ball from his hand, just like in all of the movies! Master Nagato reached for his stick, taking it in hand and hitting Emie on the head with it.

"I did not tell you to take it from my hand, you buffoon!" he hollered. "Where would you gain such a stupid notion from?!"

"Mu...Meowth?" Emie said, still not having her talker collar on. Master Nagato hit her on the head once again.

"No talking!" he told her sternly. Emie rubbed her head as Master Nagato snatched the steel ball back away from her. He let out an angry sigh, taking another sip of tea before continuing.

"Before I was interrupted," Master Nagato said upset. "I was going to say that you are not quite ready just yet. You have gained the physical strength to be a shinobi, but you have yet to gain the dexterity. If you can learn to avoid this ball, then, and only then, will your real training start. Now raise."

Emie did as she was told, standing on both feet as her Master did the same, still with the steel ball in his hand. Like a bolt of lightning, he threw the ball down at her feet, getting her right in the foot. Emie let out a yelp of pain as the steel ball bounced back to Master Nagato. Emie raised her foot, holding it in pain, only to be hit again in the side with the same steel ball. For a ball of steel it had the consistency of rubber.

She landed on her front, letting out a moan of agony. Master Nagato laughed at her misery.

"Are you joking?" he questioned. "You cannot even avoid being hit by a small ball?"

He threw the ball down at her with Emie barely dodging it as she rolled out of the way. She scurried on her feet, soon having to duck as Master Nagato threw the ball at her face. She popped back up, unaware that the steel ball had bounced off the wall, coming straight back towards her. With a painful crack, the ball hit her in the back of the head, making her fall face first once more.

And so, another day of grueling training commenced.

_**Noon**_ came, with everyone still in the suite finally being awake. Darrell still hadn't returned and Emie was still busy training. Shade was sitting on the couch with Clara, watching a kid's show. One screen was a little girl in a bathing suit, looking all around as she stood on the beach.

"**Do you know where the ocean is?**" she asked the audience. Clara pointed at the ocean, literally taking up half the screen behind her.

"Pkia pika!" Clara said enthusiastically, pointing her paw at the screen. "Pika Pika!"

Shade let out a bothered sigh, crossing her legs and leaning her head to the side.

"Gee," She said with a lack of enthusiasm. "I'm glad to see they're challenging young minds now a'days."

Bomber was playing with Rachel's Nidoran, which she _still_ had yet to name. Bomber was building with blocks they had gotten from downstairs in the lobby, making a tower for the Nidoran to knock over each time. Rachel was sitting on the floor as well, watching as this took place.

"The destroyer of cities!" Bomber said dramatically. "Oh no! Here he comes again!"

"Nido~!" the Nidoran cried, bumping his horn against the blocks. Rachel watched them tumble downward, getting a kick out of her adorable Pokemon.

Laurence was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book like he always did. Not much changed when it came to his habits it seemed. Even so, his mind wasn't fully on the text within the confines of the pages. Rachel's order still stuck in his mind, not sure if he could follow through with something so disrespectful and cruel to his mistress. He let out a sigh, turning the page.

Otto was in the kitchen with Doug, assisting him with baking cookies. Normally Otto would refuse to do something involving cooking, mostly living off of microwave meals and prepackaged things. He couldn't bake or cook to save his life. However, Doug had a certain charm when it came to working in the kitchen, having Otto unable to refuse. Currently the two of them were mixing bowls of batter, with Otto carefully following Doug's instructions.

Matt and Sissy had also been on the couch that afternoon, with Sissy resting her head in Matt's lap as he soothingly motioned his fingers through her hair. She hadn't slept well the night before, constantly waking from a reacquiring nightmare. Every time she did Sissy would draw close to Matt with him holding her in his arms. Matt still hadn't asked her about Mom's son, though badly wanted to.

"**Do **_**you**_** see the ocean?**" the girl on TV asked. Clara was starting to get annoyed, waving her paw towards the screen as she stood up on her legs.

"Pikachu-_chu_!" Clara responded irritated. "Pika-Pika_chu_!"

Clara felt Shade's hand placed on top of her head.

"She can't hear you, Clara." Shade tried to explain. "It's just a show."

"Pi...pik_aaaahhh!_" Clara whine upset, waving her paw at the TV still. Why couldn't the girl find the ocean?! It was right there!

"The destroyer of cities?!" Bomber said even more dramatically as he kept playing with the Nidoran. "No! The destroyer of _worlds_!"

Rachel's eyes suddenly widened with a name popping in her head after Bomber's statement.

"Odin!" she said excited. Matt looked down at the floor where she was sitting next to her Nidoran and Bomber confused.

"Huh?" he said with Sissy still resting her head on his lap.

"Odin was a Scandinavian god in mythology that created the earth and was also known as the god of war." Rachel explained with a smile. "I think that'd be a perfect name for him!"

The Nidoran looked at his trainer, confused as to what 'Scandinavian' meant.

"Scandinavian?" Bomber questioned. Rachel nodded, motioning for her Nidoran to come towards her. He did happily, jumping into her lap and affectionately rubbing the side of his head against her arm.

"It's just something where we come from." Rachel explained, forgetting that there was a difference in universes. Bomber looked at her funny.

"Odin sounds kinda silly." he told her honestly.

"Coming from a Pidgeotto named 'Bomber'," Shade said still watching the crappy child show. "I'd say it's a good name."

Bomber sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't bring my name into all of this..." he told her frustrated. Shade simply shrugged.

"Just saying..." she told him honestly. "That doesn't mean it's not a sexy name though."

She turned to look at him, giving him a sassy wink. Bomber blushed.

The rain outside was still continuing to pour. Most of the crew had gotten used to it by now, though prayed it would end soon.

Out of nowhere, the television show was cut off with Clara nearly bursting into tears. Everyone turned their attention on screen, even Sissy who sleepily opened her eyes, seeing a man in a military uniform appear.

"Hello," he said, being the same old man from before. "General Gail speaking from Gail company. As many of you know, the road to Mt. Moon is still being held under lock down. Due to recent complaints we at Gail company have decided to let any trainers with a Pewter City Gym badge be escorted through Mt. Moon. Due to lack of resources and regulation, only one badge will be given during this time, requiring trainers to sign up for a Pokemon tournament that will be held in the Pewter city battle arena. Details can be found in the lobby of the Pokemon center. General Gail signing off. As always, have a nice day."

The show from before came back on screen.

Everyone looked at each other, unsure as to what to say.

"Now what?" Shade asked. Matt grinned, with Sissy looking up at him as she continued to rest her head on his lap.

"It looks like it's time to get myself a gym badge." Matt responded seriously.

_**In**_ the darkness of his study, the man began to laugh. He was alone, watching the same news cast that Matt and his friends had seen. Held in his hand was a glass of wine, which he typically indulged in from time to time. A smile curled on his lips as he swirled the wine in circles. Being known as the King of Kings to Team Rocket, the absolute and undisputed leader of the organization, this news of Gail Company escorting pleased him.

"Perfect." he said to himself with a dark laugh. "Just what I needed. With a badge I could easily get my men back and forth through the border. Not only that, but I would have my enemy be aiding me through the checkpoint. Simply beautiful."

Reaching to his side as he sat in his chair, he grabbed his land line phone, punching in the number of one of his higher ranked Shadow Assassins. It began to rang as he held the phone up to his ear, still swirling his wine in his other hand. There was an answer finally on the other line.

"Hello Noel." he said with a dark laugh. "I have an assignment for you and your brother. Make sure at least one of my men win that badge. Do whatever it takes."

He hung up the phone without even saying goodbye, a habit had gained over the years. The leader of Team Rocket sipped his wine, darkly chuckling to himself.

"I feel sorry for anyone who gets in my way..."


	56. Chapter 56

_**Chapter 56**_

Leaving the majority of the crew behind, Matt exited out of the elevator with Sissy and Shade by his sides. Matt didn't intend on disturbing everyone of their daily routines and vices, telling the group that he could go by himself to get all of the information that he needed. Sissy however wanted to be with him for obvious reasons and Shade told Matt she was going with him whether he liked it or not.

"You know you didn't really have to come, Shade." Matt repeated, for what must have been the forth time since they left the suite. Shade just shrugged as her flip flops made clopping noises against the white floors of the Pokemon center.

"I already told you I was bored out of my mind being stuck in the suite." Shade told him as they made their way towards the arena room. "And you're out of your damn mind if you think I was going to watch that stupid kid show Clara wanted to see for another second. 'Sides, I wanted to see the competition."

Matt's mind took her statement one step forward, getting a smirk on his face.

"More like ogle over the female trainers." Matt sneered. Sissy looked at Matt with a frown as if to show that she were upset with him. However, she didn't seem as irate as she usually had been in the past. Matt tended to have a somewhat calming effect on her, keeping her anger and hatred more under control.

"Don't be cruel." Sissy told him sternly. Matt looked at her, opening his mouth to defend himself.

"Nah," Shade told Sissy before Matt could get a word in edgewise. "he's kinda right."

Sissy looked over at Shade as the three of them walked, staring at her, not sure how to follow up with that statement.

"Oh..." was Sissy's only response.

Nearing the arena room, there was a large sound of commotion coming from within. Matt opened one of the double doors that lead inside, revealing a large crowd of trainers, all standing around, talking with one another, waiting in different lines. Most of them didn't have their Pokemon out and the few that did only had them in their beast form. There was an even smaller handful of trainers with their Pokemon in their anthropomorphic forms, usually only having one. The three of them entered, slowly walking through the arena room, looking all around.

"How many trainers do you think are here?" Shade asked.

"I'm not sure." Sissy responded, glancing over her shoulder to see a trainer with a female Nidoran in his arms. "It seems like a lot of trainers want this badge."

"If it means a way out of Pewter city," Matt told her, "they're naturally going to flock here. They're probably just as sick as we are from sitting around and doing nothing."

Matt started to count quietly to himself, mouthing the numbers as he took inventory of all of the trainers. He was only able to get up to forty when he heard someone shouting something at him.

"Sir?" A voice said sounding very irritated. Matt, Sissy, and Shade turned, seeing a man sitting at a table near the corner of the large room. "Do you have a number?"

Sissy's ears twitched as she stared back at the balding man sitting at the foldout table.

"What?" Matt said at a loss, approaching him. As they did so, Shade was busily checking out all of the female trainers, mostly the ones with reveling tops with exposed cleavage.

"I asked you if you had a number already." the man repeated, appearing to be in his late fifties. The wrinkles on his forehead showed even more when Matt stared at him like a moth gazing at the sun.

"You're here to compete in the tournament for the right to fight the gym leader and win a badge, correct?" the middle aged man asked, clearly sounding frustrated with his job.

Matt nodded.

"Well, yeah..."

"Then you need a number." The man told him through his teeth, grabbing a clipboard and pen. "I need your name so I can register you."

"Matt." he told him sounding proud. The balding man wrote down his name, looking up at him afterward.

"And you last name?" the man sighed. He sounded like he'd done this sort of work longer than he wanted to in his lifetime. Matt frowned, glancing over at Sissy for a second.

"Why do they need my last name?" Matt asked him, trying to avoid saying it. The balding man nearly glared a whole through him.

"You realize that you're not the only Matt in the world, correct?" the balding man asked him almost insultingly. Knowing there was no way around it, Matt sighed.

"Venero." Matt sighed. Sissy's ears twitched at the sound of his last name. She had never heard his last name before. Shade momentarily stopped trying to stare at boobs, looking back over at Matt.

"I never knew your last name was Venero." Shade told him seriously. "Sounds kinda cool."

Matt acted like he was embarrassed by it.

"I really don't like my last name..." he admitted. Sissy smiled warmly at him.

"I think it's a nice last name." Sissy told him sweetly. The sound of hastened scribbling killed the mood, with the man handing Matt a plastic card.

"Okay," he told him with a lack of enthusiasm. "You're number **54**. That card is proof that you're registered. Now would you kindly step over and let me take a picture?"

Matt did as he was told, stepping behind the table and standing on the tape on the floor, like he was instructed. Matt stood up straight and did his best to smile as the balding man took a picture. The flash nearly blinked him, but Matt managed to make a nice smile regardless.

"There," the man said, tossing the camera on the table carelessly "the tournament will start tomorrow at noon. Do you know the rules?"

Matt had made his way back around the table, standing beside Sissy and Shade again. He simply shook his head. The man sighed, as if to say he figured so.

"The rules are simple." the man explained very monotonously. "You are only allowed up to six Pokemon, all of which must be in their beast forms. Only one Pokemon can be out on the field at a time. The match is over when the trainer is out of usable Pokemon or if the trainer forfeits. The matches will all be randomly generated with one battle a day for each trainer. The last trainer remaining after the tournament will be faced up against the the Pewter city gym leader, Br-

"Brock." Matt interrupted, using his Pokemon logic to aid him. "Don't worry I already-

"Brandon." The man corrected him, looking at Matt as if he were an idiot. "Where on earth did you hear that the Pewter city gym leader was named Brock?"

Matt's ego deflated with him awkwardly putting his hand on the back of his neck.

"Just...a wild guess..."

Shade quickly pushed Matt aside, moving close to the foldout table.

"Whoa whoa," she said sounding a little nervous. "did you say all Pokemon _had_ to be in their beast forms?"

"Yes, ma'am," the man told her, not even bothering to look up at her as he busily went back to work writing down information. "that is correct."

The look on Shade's face was pure terror..

"Were you here to sign up as well, ma'am?" the man asked her, not realizing that Shade herself was a Pokemon, still appearing to be a blonde haired girl in jean short shorts and a purple shirt. He hadn't taken the time to look at her eyes and notice that the irises were red.

"N-no..." she told him, not even going to bother clarifying that she was a Haunter. Instead, she just started walking away from the table with Matt and Sissy watching her. "I'll be upstairs watching TV with Clara I guess..." she told them sounding like she'd been given horrible news. Both Sissy and Matt watched her leave them.

"What was that about?" Matt asked aloud.

"I don't know." Sissy told him. "Should we ask her?"

Matt thought about it for a minute, finally shaking his head.

"Maybe now isn't the best time." he told her, just watching as Shade exited the arena room. Matt glanced over to Sissy, who looked back at him with a worried frown. He put his arm around her, kissing her on the forehead.

"Come on," he told her, "let's get out of here and plan for tomorrow."

"Okay." she said contently as they walked side by side, still with Matt's arm around her. They continued walking, exiting out the doors with the noise of the trainers getting registered.

_"Matt,"_ he remembered Mom asking him over the phone. _"has Sissy said anything to you about my son?"_

He glanced over to her once more, seeing her smile back at him.

"You okay?" she asked him chipper. Matt forced himself to smile back at her, but didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't push the subject off forever, knowing it was bound to come out sooner or later.

_**One**_ o'clock came with Matt thinking to himself as he stood near the window of the suite's main room. With his hand on his chin, he contemplated how things were going to go the following day. He was most likely going to be up against a lot of well prepared trainers, making him wonder if his Pokemon were ready, or even available.

Bomber, who was playing with Odin on the floor, was most likely going to be the heavy lifter when it came to the fights as he typically was. Being so large and powerful, he was most likely going to be sent out first, depending on the situation of course.

Then there was Shade, who was watching TV with Clara, being the same shitty kid show from before. He had never seen her beast form before, unsure if she even _had_ one. That fact aside, she'd never really had that much combat experience, though proved to be fairly useful nonetheless. The combat he had seen with her was mostly that of trickery and tactics. She definitely could be useful.

With those two being acknowledged, there was also Sissy, who was making tea. She'd proved to be tough, but she had normally been in her anthropomorphic form. It was rare to see her fight in her beast form, but considering the changes he'd been seeing in it, mostly being her size of now five feet on all paws, it looked like she could do some damage.

Being able to count on having Emie during this tournament wasn't likely. She was so busy training that it was unlikely for her to even be able to stand on two feet let alone fight in a match. It was a loss he was going to have to accept. He still felt guilty for everything that he had put her though and he wasn't going to just cut her out of the training she was being given.

Matt let out a sigh, raising his head to stare out the window again, watching as the rain came down. His thoughts were going crazy and the stupid rain wasn't helping him. He could hear Bomber playing with Odin in the background behind him.

"Rar!" Bomber roared playfully, making Odin run circles around him. Lifting his heavy wings, Bomber tried to catch the little guy, but with no luck. He was far to fast to grapple onto. The sound of Clara giggling could be heard as well.

"Pi-ka-_chu_!" she giggled, making Shade sigh.

"Yes," Shade told her, patting on the little electric mouse Pokemon's head. "I see the yellow square; the one that's glowing and the stupid girl _still_ can't see."

Sissy began to pour herself some tea, looking around the room. Otto, Rachel, Laurence, and Doug had all gone out to go shopping, being low on food again. Bomber gladly agreed to keep an eye on Odin and Clara, with everyone else in the suite still helping out as well. After pouring her tea into a small cup, she happily walked across the suite towards Matt with it in her hand as her tail wagged beneath her yukata.

Matt felt her put her hand on his shoulder, feeling her looking at him as he continued to gaze outside at the rain that was coming down onto Pewter city.

"We've only got one shot at this." Matt told her, loud enough for everyone else to hear. It got Shade and Bomber's attention. "We have to do this right."

Matt finally looked over to Sissy, seeing her smiling at him.

"You can count on me." Sissy told him softly, holding her tea still in her other hand. "I won't fail you like I did last time."

Matt smiled back at her, giving her a loving peck on the lips.

"You didn't fail me last time." Matt told her with his face close to hers, remembering when Odin was still hopped up on stardust. "Last time wasn't your fault."

"Don't worry, boss," Bomber told him from behind, still playing with Odin. "I won't be letting anything stop me. As long as I'm still flapping my wings I've got your back."

Bomber's confidence made Matt smile. Shade however said nothing, looking down at the floor as she sat on the couch. He looked over his shoulder, as if waiting for her to say something as well.

"I'm sorry..." he finally heard her tell him. "I can't do this..."

Matt was almost taken back by this, not sure what she meant.

"But Shade," he told her, fully turning his body towards her direction with Sissy doing the same. "why not? Emie's most likely not going to be able to help. As it is, I'm already short on Pokemon."

"I said I was sorry..." Shade respond, feeling guilty that she couldn't help. "You don't understand, it's not that I don't want to, it's just that...I...don't think I can manage."

"Why not?" Bomber asked her with Odin taking a break from running around him. "What is it that's preventing you from helping?"

"I just...can't..." She said. Matt lowered his head, letting out a sigh.

"I guess I can't force you, but-"

"That's not a good enough excuse!" Bomber said suddenly, sounding more upset than Matt would have expected to hear him sound. Shade refused to look at him. "Matt isn't just going this for himself, he's doing this for _all_ of us. Are you really that selfish that you can't help?"

"You don't understand..." Shade said upset. Bomber began to storm around the couch with Sissy and Matt watching. It only took him a moment to get in Shade's face as she continued to sit on the couch, refusing to look up.

"No, Shade," he told her, "I _don't_ understand. If you seriously can't give me a reason, then-"

"Do you think I _like_ being stuck here?!" Shade finally snapped back, standing up from the couch. She startled Clara, making her fall backwards on the couch. "I hate it just as much as you do and I'd help Matt win that badge if I could, but I can't!"

"Why?" Bomber asked her, seeing the anger in her eyes.

"Because I'm scared!" she finally yelled. "I'm scared of having to show what I really look like!"

Bomber blinked, not expecting that answer.

"What?..."

"I don't want to show what I really look like as a beast!" Shade yelled. "I can't handle that kind of a burden- knowing that everyone knows what I really am!"

Bomber looked at her with sad eyes with Sissy and Matt watching as well.

"Shade," Sissy told her as she stood by Matt with her tea still in hand. "we're you're friends, it's okay."

"It's not okay!" Shade roared, having her voice sound very...demonic. "You'll know what I _want_ you to know!"

Bomber shook his head at her, lifting his wing and putting it by her side as she sat on the couch, holding back her tears.

"I'm sorry!" She said loudly, making Clara's heart jump and Odin cover his head, who was still behind the couch. "I can't be in my beast form!"

A tear rolled down her face. Shade smacked Bombers wing away from her, shoving him aside as she got up from the couch.

"Dammit," Shade muttered to herself, "my stupid emotions are getting the better of me again..."

She quickly walked across the room, fading through Matt's door.

Everyone was quiet, unsure as to how they were supposed to react that that. Matt put his hand on his head, letting out a bothered groan.

"Well shit..." he said to himself. "This is already turning into a train wreck. I don't think I'm going to be able to get through this tournament with only you two."

"Don't worry," Sissy told him tenderly. "we'll figure it out."

She put her hand on his back as he let out another sigh. Not even five seconds later, the suite door opened. Everyone redirected their attention to Darrell and the little girl by his side. She was in a little pink dress that he had bought for her. It went down to her knees and had a flower on the shoulder of it. Darrell led her inside with the little girl not making eye contact with anyone.

"Hey," Darrell said, not sure how to explain his situation. "is Doug here?"

Sissy shook her head, watching as Odin edged his way near the girl, clearly being a Pokemon of some kind.

"No," Sissy told him. "he went out shopping with the others. Who's the little girl?"

Odin sniffed the Dratini's foot with her letting out a subtle groan of a feral nature, making him back away fearfully. Little, innocent Clara had poked her head over the couch with a smile when she saw a new face. She hopped over the couch, moving on all fours to scurry over to the Dratini.

"It's fairly complicated." Darrell beat around the bush. "She's a Dratini."

"A Dratini?" Bomber said surprised. "How the hell did you get one of those?"

Clara stood up with her back erect and her ears perked up, smiling up at the little girl.

"Pika pika!" She said cheerfully. The Dratini gave her an unhappy glare.

"Like I said, it's complicated." Darrell watched as his Dratini awkwardly took a step back from Clara and Odin, giving them both angry glares. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize she had issues getting alone with others. She _was_ a dragon type after all, typically being suborn in nature and too proud to be associated with others besides their own kind. "Her name is Aurora."

The Dratini looked up at him, now very confused. That _wasn't_ her name. Why was he calling her that?

"She's cute." Matt commented, with Aurora, which was to be her newly assumed name, giving him a grumpy look. She was _not_ cute!

"I'm sorry to do this," Darrell said, "but I have to run back to work and check up on somebody. I'd take her with me, but it would cause problems and I can't put her in her ball. She's a little stubborn at best."

"Don't worry," Matt told him with a snicker as he put his arm around Sissy. "I know what it's like to have a stubborn Pokemon."

Sissy caught his drift, giving him a playfully dirty look.

"Meany." she said to him, shortly after sticking her tongue out at Matt.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I left her here for a little bit?" Darrell asked.

"Of course not," Matt told him with Sissy's hand still on his back. "it's fine. You wouldn't happen to have any other unexpected guests, would you? It's starting to get a little cramped in here with everyone coming to stay with us."

Darrell frowned, taking Matt's joking seriously.

"Hey," he told him sounding a little depressed. "I'm really sorry for being such a burden to you guys, especially after what you've all done for Doug and I. Bringing someone else here is completely uncalled for and I'm sorry I feel like I'm just dropping her off for you to babysit."

Aurora glanced up at Darrell looking upset. She was _not_ a baby either!

"It's alright." Matt assured him. "It's no trouble at all."

Darrell smiled, giving a thankful nod of his head. He turned around, kneeling down so he could look Aurora in her silver eyes. She looked grumpy and frankly peeved with him.

"I'm sorry we haven't had much time to get to know each other," Darrell apologized. "but I promise I'll be back later tonight. I just need to make a quick stop somewhere and I'll be back. Can you be good while I'm gone?"

Aurora crossed her arms and turned her head with Clara still trying to be friendly with her. Darrell looked down, seeing Clara and Odin beside him, smiling happily at her.

"I know this is a lot of change for you," Darrell told her like a father talking to his daughter, "but I need you to try and behave. This is going to be a lot of adjusting for both of us, but I know we can do it. Okay?"

Still with her arms crossed, Aurora looked back at him, then averted her eyes again. She let out a huff, but still nodded her head to show that she would try to be good, even if she didn't want to. Aurora felt Darrell pat her on the head, getting slightly irritated with him as he stood back up.

"I'll be back shortly." he told her, moving over to the door. Before exiting, he looked back over to Matt once again. "I can't thank you enough; I owe you big."

Matt waved his hand in the air as if it were nothing.

"It's not that big of a deal, really." he told him confidently. Darrell grinned, opening the suite door and leaving. As it closed behind him, Clara waddled her way towards Aurora again with high hopes of making a new friend. Odin however was still a little nervous to be around her, but followed in Clara's footsteps by trying to be just as kind.

"Pikachu?" Clara asked her, making Aurora's silver haired eyebrow raise. She looked down at the over zealous Pikachu curiously, pondering over what it had asked her. Odin said nothing, only standing on his four paws beside Clara, waiting for an answer. After not much thought, Aurora shrugged her shoulders and gave a simple nod of her head, not really caring either way. This made Clara happy with her red cheeks sparking.

Clara quickly turned around, running on all fours towards the back of the couch. With a leap, she jumped over the back of it and landed on the other side, staring at Bomber.

"Pika pika kachu!" She told him, making him cock his head.

"You want the crayons and paper from yesterday?" he repeated, making little Clara nod her head. Bomber complied, walking around the couch and towards the kitchen table where the things were. While doing so, Aurora watched the large seven foot Pidgeotto, examining him with squinted eyes.

"She seems really on edge..." Sissy said to Matt in a hushed tone. "Do you think she'll be alright?"

Matt saw what she was talking about. She hadn't once let her guard down it seemed. For such a young looking Pokemon (even though it was much older than him in years), she had a strange look about her. It looked like she was expecting them to jump out at her or something.

"I think she'll be fine once she warms up to us." Matt told Sissy, who was taking a sip of her tea at the time. They watched as Bomber set the paper and crayons on the floor with Clara rushing to grab a sheet. Some of them were blank while others were the 'fill in the blank' pages with random pictures on them.

Aurora, reached in her dress pocket, pulling out the few crayons she'd been given at the waffle house that morning alone with the small coloring book she'd folded up. She joined Clara and Odin as the two of them tried to color, sitting on the floor next to them.

Clara was a natural, coloring in a picture of a clown, making sure to go along with the lines. Odin did his best to draw with the crayon in his mouth, only able to make a few lines, though had fun doing so regardless. Aurora didn't really care, doing what she had been doing before, scribbling in the picture of the Pikachu, not even using the same colors as before and ignoring the lines.

"I think she'll be a welcome addition." Bomber said to himself as he watched the little ones color. While this was happening, Shade finally exited out of Matt's room door again, regaining control of her emotions. Her eyes were closed as she took a deep breath, refusing to let her past-self tendencies take control of her.

"Sorry," Shade said, finally reopening her eyes. "I didn't mean to have a-"

She noticed a blue skinned girl, stopping in mid sentence from surprise.

"Breakdown?..." Shade finished, a little lost as to why there was a random girl in the suite with everyone. "Did I miss something?"

Matt started explaining to her as Clara, Odin, and Aurora kept coloring with the sound of rain outside still continuing as it had been since they arrived in Pewter city.

_**Emie**_ swiftly moved out of the way as the metal bell whizzed past her face, nearly getting her again. Nimbly pivoting on her feet, she preformed an aerial flip as it rebounded off the back wall, barely missing her leg. She landed with her heals raised from the floor, quickly falling to the ground and catching herself with her hands as the ball was thrown at her again.

"Excellent footwork!" master Nagato told her, impressed by her progress she had been making that day. It was one of the few times he had not insulted her. Emie sprung up from the floor with her hands and landed on her feet again in a ready position. She saw that he ball was in Master Nagao's hand. He smiled, stroking his white beard with his free hand.

"You have done very well, Meowth." he told her. "I am surprised you lasted as long as you did."

Emie gave a respectful bow of her head as she panted, putting her hands by her sides.

"Are you ready for your real training?" he inquired. Emie's eyes lit up with excitement, nodding her head quickly. Master Nagato smiled for what must have been for the first time.

"Good," he told her. "Now let us-"

The front doors were slid open with the rain outside still coming down. It was getting dark with three men in jackets entering. The man that was standing outside the door was nowhere to be seen, having run off in fear for his life. The letters **TR** were on the back of their jackets.

Tracking mud inside, they all clopped their shoes against the wooden flooring. The one taking the lead pointed his finger at Nagato.

"You!" he shouted. "Our boss doesn't like that you haven't been paying the protection fee!"

Emie moved aside as her master slowly walked towards them with his hands held together. With closed eyes, he continued making his way towards them. The three men didn't know what to think with the leader of them getting angry.

"Team Rocket isn't going to let you just slide by while everyone else has been paying!" he yelled. "Pay up or you'll be sorry!"

Master Nagato stood before the three of them as Emie watched with her ears folding back. The yelling was making her tremble. She had never liked loud voices. With master Nagato's eyes still closed, he stood there motionlessly. The member of the small crew taking charge wasn't finding this funny at all. He stuck out his finger, pointing in his face.

"Did you fall asleep, old man?!" he yelled enraged, still with his hand pointed in his face. "I said-"

As fast as light itself, Master Nagato grabbed onto the Team Rocket grunt's wrist, twisting it with a violent and disturbing cracking noise emanating from it. He let out another yell, this time one of pain and agony. The other two grunts didn't know what to do, only watching as their friend's wrist had been completely twisted around. Emie watched in awe as Master Nagato opened his eyes again.

"Do not raise your tone with me, boy." he told him coldly. "You have no right to enter my home- my domain in which I am king- and insult me by claiming that I owe you money. Leave before I decide to take your worthless life, you filthy dog."

He released his hand with the grunt's wrist returning to normal. The grunt held it in pain, glaring back at Nagato..

"You old bastard!" he snarled. "You just signed your own death certificate!"

He quickly turned tail with the other two grunts following in his footsteps. Before leaving, the grunt who was still holding his wrist turned to look at Master Nagato one last time.

"This isn't over!" he yelled. "My boss is going to slit your throat and break your fucking knees!"

The grunts hurried out of there, with Master Nagato shaking his head.

"Meowth," he said seriously, "I must tell you something important."

He turned to her with Emie staring at him with perked ears. Master Nagato saw her nod her head, as if to tell him that she was listening.

"There are men in this world that want nothing more than to see it burn and suck the beauty out of it. Since the beginning of time the fight of good and evil has taken it's toll, claiming lives and having prices to pay. Before I begin to seriously begin to train you, I must know that you will use your skills for just causes and not for selfish deeds. Can I trust you?"

Emie nodded her head with a serious look in her eye. Master Nagato saw it and was pleased.

"Meowth," he continued. "in doing so, you must be prepared to pay the price of following through with righteous deeds. There is always a price to be paid when it comes to being a shinobi, whether it be the burden of upholding peace and prosperity to the things you cherish and the people you love or even you life. Do you understand this."

Once again, Emie nodded seriously.

"One more thing, Meowth." he said to her. "As a shinobi, you will undoubtedly face foes such as men like those. They will stop at nothing to achieve what you want. Are you will to take a life if you must?"

Emie stared at him, having such a heavy question placed upon her. After a minute of silence, she slowly nodded.

"Then let us continue with our training." master Nagato told her.

_**Darrell**_ entered the Candy Club to the sound of a girl letting out a squeak of 'pleasure'. He forced himself to ignore the sounds and focused on the 'relaxing' music that played in the club. Passing all of the girls and men that had purchased lap dances and other 'minor' services, Darrell made his way to the back, finding that Hugo, who was usually sitting at the back couch with either a girl in his lap or a stack of cash, wasn't there. As strange as it was, he could care less. He just came to see Athena.

A bouncer stood by the stairs that lead up to the other floors. He was wearing his Team Rocket jacket and a pair of sunglasses. Darrell approached the bouncer with the bartender, cleaning a glass behind the counter, giving Darrell a dirty look. The bouncer instantly knew Darrell, letting him pass through.

"Here for the usual?" he asked him with a chuckle. Darrell wanted to punch him in the face.

"Yeah," Darrell told him, restraining himself. "I am."

He climbed the stairs, making his way up the the second floor. As he made his way up, his eyes wandered, looking over the banister that hung over the main floor. The Candy Club's floors were all square like with he upper floors branching off into four different directions, being east, west, north, and south, each having a hallway of doors. Making your way from the second floor to the third floor required you to walk around to the other side. The staircase that led up to the second floor exited onto the eastern side with the beginning staircase that led up to the third floor being on the western side.

Darrell passed by a few grunts keeping watch on the second floor, being the floor where the Pokemon females were being kept. He saw that they had handguns on their sides. They gave him a friendly smile with him forcing himself to do the same. Why the hell had he ever wanted to go back to Team Rocket? Every single one of them that worked in the gang was complete trash.

He made his way up to the third floor, walking from the western side, which was where the staircase ended, towards the northern wall, being where the hall Athena was at. He began to walk down the northern hall of the third floor, suddenly hearing the loudest scream of his life. His heart jumped, hurrying down the hall towards Athena's room even faster now.

Standing outside were a two men in suits, all wearing sunglasses like they were some sort of secret service or bodyguards. On each side of Athena's door, they stood like statues made of stone with their hands together and their backs erect. The sounds of Athena screaming could be heard inside with Darrell nearly panicking.

He stopped outside her door with one of the men looking towards him, having his eyes hidden by his glasses.

"No entering." he told Darrell seriously. Darrell opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by the sound of grunting coming from within the confines of Athena's quarters.

"Take it bitch!" he heard a male yell with a grunt following after. Darrell's blood ran cold, listening to the sounds of brutal sex. Every motion could be heard, every scream of pain was clearly vocalized. Darrell couldn't do anything. All he could do was listen.

The sound of the bed creaking was prevalent with heavy breathing coming from a male. Darrell stood there in front of the door with his distance being forced by the men in black suits. Finding himself shuttering at each scream heard from Athena, Darrell was soon shaking. Was it fear he was experiencing?

"You fucking whore!" he heard the man inside holler. "Take it you bitch! Fucking take it!"

Darrell's fists tightened.

No...

This was rage.

He couldn't bring himself to walk away from the door, hearing the heaving and huffing coming from the room. The sound of Athena crying was heard, making Darrell's blood pressure rise. Then there was a slapping sound, followed by Athena letting out a another yell of pain.

"I ain't finished with you yet!" the man screamed. "Don't you start balling!"

Slap. Another slap. Again, another slap. Darrell clenched his eyes closed as he heard the sounds of sex coming from her room. She let out a loud cry of agony, sounding as if she were being tortured. Hit after hit after hit after hit. It kept going on, feeling like an eternity. The sound of a large yell of ecstasy coming from the male was made, followed by a conceded sigh.

"Now _that_ was a good fuck..." Darrell could hear the man say through the other side. "Clean yourself up, whore."

The sound of the man putting on his clothes was heard. Darrell was shaking at that point with the men standing by the sides of the door still motionless, not saying a word. The door opened with Darrell seeing the man that was inside.

He was muscular, wearing a mesh shirt and tight pants. His hair was a curly, strawberry red and he had freckles all over his face. His eyes were blue and he had a sadistic smiled curled upon his lips. He saw Darrell, continuing to smile. He placed his hand on his shoulder, with Darrell staring at it.

"That's a fine piece of ass in there." he told him. "Got her all warmed up for ya."

He let out an annoying laugh with his bodyguards following behind him as he made his way towards the stairs. Darrell stood there for a moment, hearing Athena crying inside the room. No matter what he told himself, no matter the lies he could conjure in his mind, he couldn't stop shaking. Anger had overcome him, vibrating like a mad man. Forcing himself to step forward towards the door, he placed his hand on the handle, opening it as his fingers twitched.

Athena was sitting inside with her kimono thrown on her. She was sitting on the bed with her hands on her face, crying hysterically. Darrell slowly entered, seeing the stains on the bed and the hit marks on the side of her face. He couldn't speak, having his words taken from him in his enraged state. Athena finally lifted her head from her hands, seeing Darrell. She was still crying, not saying a word to him. Nothing needed to be said. It was all too clear what had happened.

Darrell came to her, sitting down on the clean side of the bed and embraced her. The two of them were shaking madly, unable to help it. She rested her head on his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably from the cruel abuse she had been put through.

"I'm so sorry..." Darrell told her with a tear running down his face. "I'm so fucking sorry..."

Athena couldn't speak, unable to from all the crying. She just held him, unable to let go even if she wanted to. Her grip tightened around him as she wept.

The two of them held each other like this for well over an hour, not saying anything else. Athena cried on his shoulder as he held her, not letting her go even for a second. The rain outside could be heard even through the crying session she was having, comforting Darrell. He did as he always did, telling himself to focus on the rain, just like he had done when he was still a Shadow Assassin after he made his kills. It calmed him then and it certainly calmed him now.

"He says he's going to buy me, Darrell..." Athena suddenly told him in mid cry. Darrell could feel himself start shaking again with anger and sadness overcoming him.

"Who is this man?" he asked her, feeling as if he needed to know.

"I...I don't know..." Athena told him, still with her head buried in his shoulder. "All I know is that he owns the a manor north of Pewter city; the one that's on the hill. I know because he told me that's where he's going to take me...and...and dominate me..."

Darrell's grip around her grew even stronger.

"No." he told her seriously. "He won't."

Athena pulled her head back, staring at Darrell with a lost look in her eye.

"But he's already paid Hugo." she explained to him. "It's already been arranged to happen by tomorrow morning."

A certain look was in Darrell's eye. One that he hadn't had since he was a killer.

"Do you remember what you told me about your locket?" Darrell asked her, looking down at the red heart attached to it's chain around her neck.. "You told me that it meant you had a guardian angel."

A tear ran down Athena's cheek, being the same one that had a hand print on it from where the man had slapped her.

"It was just a story." she told him. "Nothing is going to stop tomorrow from happening."

Darrell looked into her eyes intensely.

"You're guardian angel won't allow it." he told her. Darrell suddenly put his hand on the side of her face, kissing her on the lips softly. They tasted of cherries. He moved his head back, seeing Athena staring at him surprised. All of the pain she had undergone that day melted away. All from a simple kiss. However, it wasn't _just_ a kiss to her. It was a kiss from the person she cared about the most in the world.

"Darrell..." she told him with another tear steaming down her face. "I love you..."

Darrell held her close to him as they kissed for a second time. Darrell's body still trembled from the emotions. Love. Animosity. Rage.

Mostly rage.

"I swear to you," Darrell told her softly. "you're guardian angel will protect you."

Athena's arms were wrapped around his body as she started to cry again.

"_**So**_ far I've only got Sissy and Bomber to help me." Matt told Otto and Rachel as they stood by the window of the main room of the suite, with the majority of the crew having returned; Darrell was still out. "Shade says she can't for personal reasons and Emie's body is already under enough punishment as it is. I don't want to risk getting her hurt."

"Emie is sorry..." Emie told Matt, who was standing beside him with her ears lowering. She had come back for the evening, finally wearing her talker collar again along with her normal clothes. The time was nearing nine at night.

"It's okay Emie," Matt told her with Sissy standing by his side. "I understand."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do this?" Otto asked him. "You're most likely going to be up against some real hard-knocks. Going into this thing with only two Pokemon doesn't sound like a good idea."

"It's my only option." Matt told them, with Rachel thinking to herself. She suddenly snapped her fingers, getting an idea.

"What if you used Laurence?" she said with a smile. Laurence, who was sitting at the kitchen table while reading a book, looked up at his mistress with a frown.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, mistress." he told her. "I'm afraid that I too wouldn't be able to preform."

Rachel looked back over to her suited Gengar with a frown.

"Why not?" she asked confused. "You could whip whatever it is that could possibly come your way."

Laurence sighed, feeling empathetic to Shade's dilemma.

"My Lady," he told her politely, "you have never seen the beast form of a Gengar and I intend to keep it that way."

Rachel frowned, crossing her arms upset. Shade, who was sitting on the couch, shook her head distraught.

"I'm sorry Matt." she repeated once again. "I would if I could, but my beast type is frankly something I don't want anyone to see. Hell, even _I_ don't want to see it."

"Why is that?" Otto asked, still standing with Matt, Rachel, Sissy, and Emie, all of which were near the window of the suite. Shade let out a sigh, shaking her head with her blond hair moving with her. She moved it behind her ear as she pulled her legs up onto the couch and held them close to her chest.

"Do you remember when we were still in the messed up dimension I met you all in?" she asked. "Jasper turned into his beast form and he was only a Gastly. For Haunters, and Gengar's especially, our beast forms are very unpredictable. I'm not proud of my true form and I don't want anyone to see it. I'm afraid I might even lose control of myself; letting my emotions get the better of me."

Laurence nodded as he stood up from the foldout kitchen table.

"Shade is correct." he said, as if verifying what she said. "Turning into our beast forms could mean a loss of control- something that could be devastating."

Matt frowned, putting his hand on his chin.

"I guess I'm going to have to make do with Sissy and Bomber." he told everyone. "I can't risk borrowing Odin or Clara; they're still too inexperienced. I'd ask Darrell if I could borrow Aurora, but I doubt that'd end well."

Aurora heard her name, momentarily looking up from the floor where she was coloring. Clara, Odin, and her were still coloring as they had been from before. Bomber had joined them, trying to have a little fun himself. It was difficult for him to even hold a crayon with his large wing, but made due the best he could.

"I wish I could help." Doug told Matt, who was standing in the kitchen area. "If I knew of a way that could give you a leg up I'd tell you, believe me, but it seems you're in a sticky situation."

"You can say that again..." Matt sighed. He felt Sissy's hand rub against his back.

"We can do this." She told him confidently. "After all, you're my trainer. I feel like I could go through a hail of bullets with you guiding me."

"I second that." Bomber told Matt as he colored in a picture of a banana. "You're a hell of a trainer and with you helping us fight there's no way we can lose."

Matt got a laugh out of the two of them, soon feeling Emie hug Matt.

"Matt is a super trainer!" she told him with enthusiasm. Matt awkwardly stood there as Emie hugged him, soon purring. He feared the worst, expecting Sissy to do or say something. Instead, he felt her hug him as well.

"That's right, Emie." She agreed. "A super trainer indeed."

Matt looked at Sissy funny, not sure what the deal was. He hadn't yet adjusted to the fact that Emie and Sissy had slowly become friends over the past few days. Everyone found it a little weird, though was a nice change of pace. It was nice to see things were slowly starting to look up.

The sound of the door being flung open was heard with Darrell nearly stumbling inside. His footing was off as he walked in, leaving the suite door open, having it slowly close by itself as it normally did. Everyone watched him, Doug included, walk his way towards his room with his hand on his hand. He was in his own world with his body still shaking in anger.

"Hey," Doug said, "where did-"

Darrell accidentally slammed the door to his room behind him, not even hearing Doug. Confused, Matt and everyone else looked at Doug as if he had an answer. He was just as much in the dark as they were.

"Is he okay?" Rachel asked. Doug stared at there room door, not entirely sure what had just happened.

"I don't know..." he said responded.

Darrell made his way to the duffel bag, grabbing it and throwing it onto the bed. He steadily unzipped it as if dealing with a bomb, seeing his mask staring back at him. Slowly, he reached down to grab it. As he held it, Darrell swore it was smiling. What would it say if it could talk?

"_Yay!_" it would say. "_We get to kill again!_"

Darrell set the mask down gently on the bed, searching through the duffel bag. It only took him a few seconds to find what he was looking for. Being rolled up was Darrell's old trench coat which he wore when he was still a feared and respected Shadow Assassin. It was black as night, giving him chills to just hold it. After that, he reached down into the duffel bag again, easily finding his laced combat boots which he would also wear on his assassin jobs. Just like his trench coat, they were black. Even the laces were.

With his body going into auto pilot it seemed, Darrell took off his sneakers, sitting down on the bed and bending over so he could put on his boots. They fit his feet perfectly, making him remember just how comfortable they were to wear and how easy they were to run in, even for combat boots. Be tied them carefully, making sure the doubled knots were perfect. They needed to be. They _had_ to be.

He stood up from the bed, reaching for his gun that he kept behind him, pulling it out. Darrell released the magazine, seeing the clip with fully loaded with a bullet still in the chamber of the handgun. After putting the clip back in, he set his gun down on his bed, knowing that he most likely wouldn't be needing it tonight as he reached for the side of the duffel bag.

Undoing a side compartment, he pulled out a very large combat knife in it's sheath. He attached it to his belt, snapping it on and making sure it wasn't going anywhere by adjusting it. After attaching the sheath, he pulled out the knife, just told hold it- to remember what it was even _like_ to hold such a beautiful tool of death.

The grooves were so perfect, making it easy to hold in his hand. He spun the knife once around his finger before sheathing it, soon reaching into the duffel bag once more. Being just as black as the rest of his attire, he pulled out a pair of dark gloves made of leather. He carefully pulled them over his hands, feeling how simply they slid into place. When finished, he made his hands into fists. They were as snug as ever.

With everything taken inventory of, Darrell grabbed his trench coat, letting it unroll from the roll it was in. He swung it around him, slipping his arms through it and popping the collar. With his knife now concealed by the trench coat that went down to his shins, Darrell took his handgun, sliding it into one of the many inner pockets of his coat.

Everything was in place and in order. The last thing he needed was sitting on the bed still, watching him as he prepared himself. Looking down at his mask, Darrell grabbed it, holding it in both hands as he gazed into it's hollow eyes. He took a minute to think about what he was doing; the risks he would be taking.

The thought of Athena being taken advantage of was enough to make him slide the mask into his trench coat, storing it in one of the other pockets. He boldly walked his way to the door, grabbing the handle of it without any fear whatsoever. All he felt was anger with his inner rage fueling him. As he opened the door, he could hear Matt and everyone still talking amongst themselves.

"And all I'm saying is that the odds are against you." Otto told him. "You should really have a plan for tomorrow."

"I know," Matt told him, not noticing Darrell for a moment as he exited out of the room. "but how am I supposed to plan? Act like I already know what I'm going to be going up against?"

"If you don't know what you're going up against then the least you can do is take inventory of Sissy and Bomber's abilities." Rachel told him earnestly. "That alone could-"

She paused, seeing Darrell standing in the kitchen next to Doug, who was also staring at him.

"What's with the getup?" Bomber asked with Clara cocking her head at Darrell.

"Pika...chu?" she said very confused. Aurora stood up from the floor, staring at Darrell with a fearful look in her eyes. It was like she could sense something wasn't right. Even if she didn't say anything, Darrell saw it in her eye.

"Something urgent came up." Darrell explained with lack of emotion, forcibly repressing them to hide his intentions. "I probably won't be home until late. Please forgive me, but I need you to watch over Aurora just a little while longer."

"Is everything okay?" Doug asked. Darrell looked at him, seeing a glint in his eye he hadn't seen in a long time. It scared him.

"It will be once I'm done." Darrell explained vaguely.

"No need to apologize." Matt told him. "If it's important than you better go take care of whatever it is."

Darrell gave a thankful nod of his head, making his way over to Aurora. He knelt down next to her, seeing her actually looking frightful for him. He boldly put his hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes.

"Aurora," he told her, "I need you to keep being good, okay? I'll be back later tonight."

Aurora stared at his belt, seeing the handle of his knife due to her angle and how close she was to him. It was like Darrell was another person to her. Wasn't he supposed to be a good guy?

He stood up, turning around and heading towards the suite door.

"Goodnight everyone." He said friendlily as he opened the door. Aurora wasn't the only one who knew something wasn't right. Laurence narrowed his gaze at the back of his head.

"_You cannot hide you who you are forever_." Laurence told him, speaking in Japanese. Darrell stopped momentarily, finally closing the door behind him, refusing to look back at Laurence, or anyone else for that matter.

Darrell's mind was in a fog, not paying attention to his surroundings. Before he knew it he was already outside the Pokemon center, walking in the rain with the moonlight shining down on him. All Darrell knew was where this man lived, and nothing else. He didn't know his name, what he did for a living, his morals, his beliefs, his vices, or even his connections. None of that mattered.

All that mattered was vengeance.

Nobody paid heed to Darrell as he walked north through the streets, making his way to his target. Slicking his hair back, he reached inside his trench coat with his other hand, slowly pulling out his gray mask made of iron. For the first time in what had been years, Darrell began to strap the mask onto his face.

Nobody even noticed...

_**It**_ was quiet in the manor, with the two body guards minding their own business as they proceeded with their usual nightly routines. One would sit on the couch and watch television while the other would read magazines, typically being that of a pornographic nature. They sat on the couch in the large manor, doing what they always did.

"**For 200 points,**" the game show host said with vigor, "**true or false: it is plausible for a Pikachu alone to have enough energy to light and operate all electrical systems of a small home."**

"True." the bodyguard watching TV said to himself as the other flipped the page of his magazine.

"The tits on these girls are ridiculous." the bodyguard reading the magazine sighed. "Real boobs don't look like that."

"**False!**" the player of the game show said. A buzzer went off, showing that he was wrong. The Bodyguard watching TV shook his head with a laugh.

"Fucking dumbass..." he muttered to himself.

The room was dark with a cool breeze running through it. The bodyguard reading the magazine looked up from the pages, staring at the other bodyguard.

"Did you hear that the Sentearo brothers are in Pewter city working with Hugo?" he asked him. The other bodyguard looked at his friend confused.

"You mean the two freaky brothers that fuck each other?" he asked. "Nah, I didn't know that."

"They don't fuck each other, you sick bastard." the bodyguard with the magazine said grossed out. "They only kiss. Or at least I think."

"Those two dudes are messed up." The bodyguard who was watching TV said, standing up from the couch. "I'm gonna get something to eat in the kitchen. You want anything?"

"I'm fine." the bodyguard with the magazine told him, flipping the page of it as his friend walked his way across the room. With the TV being the only source of light, it was a little hard for the bodyguard reading the magazine to see the figures of the naked woman he was staring at. When he actually could see them he wasn't impressed.

"These damn things like like hot air balloons." he cursed, shaking his head. "Hey, Harry, you ever realize that these magazines don't depict woman right? I mean like, shit, big boobs are nice and all, but I want something that doesn't look like a girls been trying to hide hams in her bra, you know?"

There was no response.

"Harry?" the bodyguard said, waiting for his friend to say something back to him. He was only met with a dead silence, getting a chill up his spine. He lifted his magazine up again, shrugging off the weird vibe he was getting. He flipped the page, suddenly gripping onto the magazine.

A knife was driven through his throat, making him unable to scream for help. Even if he could, the gloved hand that was placed over his mouth wouldn't have allowed him. It didn't take him very long to die with Darrell yanking out the knife from the bodyguard's neck. Completely silent, Darrell reached under the arms of the bodyguard, pulling him off the couch and dragging him into the darkness of the room. The darkness hid the blood train fairly well

Minutes later, the last remaining bodyguard reentered the room with a sandwich in his hand.

"You say something Sven?" he asked, not seeing his friend on the couch. He looked around the dark room, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. He just shrugged, not thinking anything of it. He most likely went to the bathroom to take a piss or something. Still standing, he took a bite of his sandwich and refocused his attention on the TV game show.

**"For 100 points,"** the announcer said on television. "**How many members are there regularly in the Elite Four?**"

"Are you kidding me?" the bodyguard said aloud. "That answer's in the name for crying out loud. One of these days I'm gonna write in and tell these 'geniuses' running this show how stupid they really are."

The bodyguard felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, dropping his sandwich to the floor. He hadn't seen Darrell come out from the darkness behind him, stabbing his knife into the back of his skull. The bodyguard stood there, living only for a few more brief moments before Darrell pulled the knife out of the back of his head. His lifeless body hit the floor with Darrell still holding the knife in his hand with an iron grip. The blood of the bodyguard's dripped from the blade onto the floor as he submerged within the darkness of the manor once again.

_**The**_ red headed man awoke suddenly from the strong breeze in his room. He opened his eyes, sitting up in his large bed. His room was fairly large, just like the rest of his home. The french doors that led out to his balcony were left open, just as he had wanted. Even if it was raining hard, it was nice to get some fresh air. A chill ran up his spine as he sat up in bed, slowly making his way up to his feet.

He sleepily walked towards his french doors, seeing the large grandfather clock resting against the wall say that it was two in the morning. It was hard to read in such darkness, being forced to squint when he read it. As he passed by, he swore he felt someone watching him. A nervous feeling he had often; nothing out of the ordinary.

The red haired man closed the doors with a smug smile on his face, still satisfied by the wonderful sex he had had with the lovely lady. It brought him joy to know that she would be his the next morning. She was definitely going to be sore by the time he was done with her. He began to walk back to his bed, starting to wonder if she knew how to cook. Now _that_ would be nice.

Comforted by his soft bedsheets, he retreated into the warmth of his covers, yawning sleepily. It had been a long day with sleep being something he had been lacking for the past week. There was no better time for him to finally unwind and catch up on his rest. That was, if he could actually get comfortable enough to do so.

He fidgeted in his bed, unable to lay still for even a moment. He turned to his side, telling himself to stay put and go to sleep. But he couldn't. It was like there was someone else in the room. A ridiculous notion, but it _felt_ like it none the least. It was just his mind playing tricks on him, he told himself. Nothing else. If that were the case, then why did it feel like there was something watching him?

"Impossible..." he muttered to himself with his eyes closed. "It's not like anyone could get past Harry and Sven."

There was the sound of breathing that was not his own. Nervously, the red haired man looked up, seeing a dark silhouette standing in the darkness. In a sudden panic, the red haired man reached for the lamp near his bed stand, turning it on.

Illuminating the darkness, the red haired man stared at the figure in the black trench coat and gray mask over his face. All he could really see of his were his eyes behind the mask. His dark and cold eyes that stared back at him.

"W-who are you?!" the red haired man roared. "H-how did you get in here?!"

Darrell began to step closer, wielding his knife in his hand. The red haired man quickly sprung from the bed, dashing over to the edge of his room towards a table with a large hollowed out book. He opened the cover of it, pulling out a small 22. handgun. As quickly as he could, he turned around.

Darrell was right in his face, scaring him so bad he dropped the gun.

The red haired man trembled as Darrell stood literally only a foot away from him. He pressed his back up against his bedroom wall, feeling the urge to pee himself. He looked down at the knife in Darrell's hand.

"Oh please," the red haired man, "I'll give you whatever you want! Just take anything! Please, just don't kill me!"

Darrell slowly raised the knife with the red haired man starting to shake even more violently. He brushed the blade against the man's cheek, slightly cutting into it.

"Please!" the man begged. "Please don't kill me!"

Darrell shook his head side to side, as if to show that there was no mercy to be given. In a single swipe, Darrell slit the man's throat, followed by stabbing him in the heart as hard as he could. The feeling of his knife tearing into human flesh didn't bother him. It didn't even bother him to watch the blood pour out from the man's neck like a river. Nothing bothered him.

This bastard deserved to die.

Darrell pulled his knife out of the red haired man's chest, watching his body slide against the wall and land on his butt onto the floor. Darrell knelt down, seeing the man's eyes were still open, being completely lifeless. He placed his hand against the red haired man's neck, getting some blood on his glove. After doing so, he stood up and began to write with it on the wall.

It took him a little while, but he finally managed to write what he wanted.

In blood, the words **Athena's Angel** were written on the wall.

Darrell cleaned his knife off on the bedsheets before sheathing it, then promptly left the manor just as silent as he had been when he arrived, being as quiet as a ghost.


	57. Chapter 57

_**Chapter 57**_

_**Emie**_ held her stance as she was instructed, motionless and completely balanced. With both feet firmly on the ninjutsu school's wooden flooring, she held her hands up with open palms. Her eyes were glued to Master Nagato, watching as he held the same exact stance beside her.

"Remember to keep your legs slightly bent." he reminded her. "Stiff legs will get you off balance, or in more serious situations an early death. Now focus."

Master Nagato preformed a high kick with Emie doing the same, followed by a swift punch as soon as their feet hit the floor again. They had been going over karate the entire morning with Emie making incredible progress, actually impressing Master Nagato.

"You're a fast learner." he told her pleased. "I was unaware a Pokemon could grasp martial arts so quickly. Especially a woman."

**Pokemon in general have a tendency to learn quicker than humans due to their genetic makeup. As a general rule of thumb, a Pokemon can learn around five times faster than a regular person, granted, certain variables come into play depending on the teacher or mentor.**

Emie continued to mimic her ninjutsu master, doing what he did perfectly. Each punch was filled with force, each kick was impeccably executed, and every open palmed lunge was flawless. Emie was getting good- there was no denying it. With her excellent training and her natural ability to learn faster than normal, her progress was going through the roof.

Master Nagato stopped when Emie did, hearing a loud pop coming from her shoulder. She cringed in discomfort, clenching her eyes closed. He frowned at her, knowing that her body had been through a lot. Whether he was going to admit it or not, he had grown slightly attached to Emie, not wanting her to end up hurting herself. She grabbed her shoulder, squeezing it in an attempt to somehow remedy her sore muscles.

"You've made excellent progress," he told her. "however I can't allow you hurting yourself either. Let us take a break; I'll make some tea."

Emie stared at him, blinking as he slowly turned and walked away towards another part of the ninjutsu school. Was he being nice to her?...

_**After**_ the tea was made, master Nagato and Emie sat down on the floor, leisurely sipping it with little hurry to go back to training. Emie pretended to like the tea, forcing herself to drink it, even if she though it tasted dull. It needed sugar in her opinion. A _lot_ of sugar. Master Nagato was completely content with his tea, sighing as the two of them sat on the floor, listening to the rain outside.

"I'm not sure if it has ever rained this much before in Pewter city." he told her, making conversation. "I wonder when it will stop- perhaps never."

He laughed, trying to be funny. Emie respectfully smiled, but didn't say anything. Even if she did have her collar on, which she didn't at the time, only wearing what she was permitted, she wouldn't have said anything in fear of reprimand. Not to mention her mind was in a storm of it's own. Emie let out a silent sigh, thinking to herself about the past few weeks.

She couldn't remember a happier time when she met Matt, loving everything about him. He treated her nice, he made her laugh, and he was always to loving, even when he didn't intend to be it seemed. Emie wanted nothing more than to be around him at all times; to wrap her arms around him and give Matt a big hug. And maybe a kiss if she felt especially affectionate. But that was now out of the question since he was with Sissy.

Before Emie would have gladly taken Matt back from her, and actually had planned to do so. Sissy had been mean to her and never actually gotten along together in the past, but ever since she had gotten closer to Matt it seemed like she changed for the better. She wasn't as moody or as angry as she used to be. Considering that Emie couldn't be with Matt anymore, jealously was out of the picture for her as well. The two of them were undeniably an adorable couple with a love that was bound to grow and, in a sense, 'evolve'.

Another thing that had improved was Emie and Sissy's standings between each other. What was originally a rivalry was slowly turning into a friendship. Emie couldn't just take Matt away from her. Still though, it was a nice fantasy. Emie held her tea as master Nagato continued to talk, not realizing Emie was daydreaming.

_Matt would be in the shower, cleaning himself as he did every morning. Without him even knowing she was in the bathroom, she would barge in there, catching him off guard. He'd naturally look surprised, seeing her naked with a lustful look in her eyes. Matt would slightly back up, having to hold onto shower rack last minute to prevent himself from falling over._

_ "E-emie?" he would say to her as she would enter the shower. "What are you doing?..."_

_ Taking charge, Emie would pull herself onto him, giving him the most loving, most passionate kiss that had ever been had before. It would be so moving that a tear would roll down Matt's face with his eyes still barely open, staring back at her._

_ She would be dominate, putting her hands under his arms with their kiss continuing. Emie would press her body up to his, moving her leg over his, just enough so he could feel her pelvic region against his thigh. It would drive him wild. It would make him crave her even more than he already would. Emie's kisses would move down his neck, making a shiver go up and down his spine, unable to move on his own as if he were paralyzed with intense feelings and sensuality. Nothing could make him even try to move, enjoying her too much._

_ Pushing up against him even more, her nipples would grow erect behind her wet fur that was soaked from the shower water. She would also be getting 'soaked' down below, savoring every second of being with Matt. She would suddenly feel Matt put his hand on the side of her face. Emie would look up at him, momentarily ceasing from kissing and playfully biting his neck._

_ "I love you, Emie." he would tell her, as the two of them slowly moved forward to once again kiss. Nothing could ruin such a tender, compassionate, amazing-_

"Are you alright?" Master Nagato asked Emie, confused as to why her breathing had grown more intense than before. Emie shook her head, snapping out of her daydream. Embarrassed (and admittedly turned on at the moment), she looked at her ninjutsu master with her face slightly red behind her fur, followed by a frown and a lowered head. Master Nagato frowned as well, wondering what was the matter.

"You seem very lost in your thoughts, Meowth." he told her concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Emie lowered her head even more, shaking it slowly side to side with her eyes closed.

Master Nagato was dead silent with the only thing being heard being the rain outside. He put his hand on his beard, thinking to himself. As much as he cared about her, he couldn't break his own rules.

"When we first started training I told you that you were not to speak to me." he told her. "And I must stand firmly on my principles. However, I said you couldn't _speak_ to me. That didn't mean you couldn't _write_ anything."

Emie looked up at him, shaking her head again. She motioned her hand as if writing, shaking her head side to side as if to say that she didn't know how. Being wise, Master Nagato picked this up, still stroking his beard. He thought to himself, wondering if there was a way around that problem. Another idea came to mind.

"You may not be able to write," he told her, "but surely you can draw, can't you?"

Emie thought about it, nodding her head soon after. That sounded simple enough. Master Nagato suddenly raised his voice, calling out for his apprentice. It made Emie's ears fold back from his booming tone with the young man in the rice picker hat quickly coming inside. He rushed over to master Nagato, doing a bow of respect in front of him.

"_I need some paper and an ink pen._" he told him in japanese. Without any hesitation, his apprentice ran off to go get the materials necessary in another room of the ninjutsu school. It only took him a few minutes to come back with a small stack of white paper and a black pen, clearly being an expensive one. He handed it to Emie, who soon went to work.

She began to draw a figure of Matt, being a stick figure with a hat and jacket. To his left Emie drew another stick figure with dog-like ears and a large blanket-thing, which was supposed to be Sissy wearing a kimono. Emie drew a frowny face on her as well. Finally, Emie drew herself on the right side, having cat-like ears, a scar on her forehead where a coin should have been, and a slender tail. She made it very clear that she was smiling, putting a heart over Matt and her, having them hold hands.

Emie went on to the next picture, making the same figures, but instead of making Sissy look sad she made her happy. Drawing their stick arms together, Matt and Sissy were shown holding hands with a little heart above them with Emie drawn slightly away from them both with a frown. She also made little teardrops falling from her stick figure self.

When finished, she shyly showed master Nagato. He took the paper from her, carefully examining both pictures. It didn't take him long to realize what Emie was trying to show. It was clear as day to him. He gently set the paper down in front of him, taking a sip of his tea right after.

"Do you remember when I said that emotions can cloud your judgment?" he asked her earnestly. Emie nodded, holding her cup of tea in her hands, though didn't bother drinking it anymore. "As your master I am supposed to tell you that your emotions are a disadvantage to you, especially ones such as love and fondness towards others. It will only get you killed. However, as a man who has once loved before, I understand the pain of watching the person you care about being taken away from you, and I am sorry"

Emie looked at master Nagato as he stroked his beard, examining the lost look in his eyes, deep in thought.

"Some have argued over whether or not love is actually beneficial or just a burden." master Nagato told her, still stroking his beard. "I honestly am not completely sure even to this day where I stand on the matter. Regardless, I trust that this person you love means the world to you. If this is so, focus on your training and use it to protect those you love, Meowth, because in the end, they're all that really matters, regardless of what people might say."

There was a long silence with master Nagato saying nothing. He sipped his tea with Emie tossing around what he had said in her mind. Even if Matt couldn't be truly hers, that didn't mean she didn't love him. Together or not, she vowed to herself that she would protect her trainer, no matter the cost or the pain it would bestow upon her.

"Meowth," master Nagato said sounding strangely unnerved suddenly. "might I tell you something that has been troubling me?"

Emie nodded her head with the rain outside sounding like it was coming down even harder.

"For the past week," he told her as they sat together on the wooden flooring of the ninjutsu school. "I've had a strange feeling that I haven't been able to describe. Perhaps it is the paranoia gained due to my age or maybe I'm focusing too much on the negatives aspects of life, but I feel as if there is much to come in these next few days. Bad things"

He looked at her, seeing her unsure expression.

"Silly," he told her, "I know, but I feel it in my bones. It is as if the worst is yet to come."

Emie stared into his eyes, and for a moment, though it was brief, it was as if she could sense it too. She had no reason for feeling the way she did, but it was like everything was coming to a close. Matt and his crew's stay in Pewter city had certainly been a long one, but perhaps it was now getting near to coming to an end. Maybe it was just a feeling. Or maybe it really was an unknown intuition.

Emie quietly thought to herself as her master and her sat side by side, taking a sip of tea.

All seriousness aside, she still thought it needed sugar.


	58. Chapter 58 (Kane and Wesley)

_**Chapter 58**_

**(Kane and Wesley)**

It was raining like mad outside Kane's manor as the two of them sat in leather chairs. Kane was hunched forward with a distant look in his eye. Wesley sat in the chair Clara would have normally sat in. Thankfully she was asleep in the late hours of the night as the two of them sat there, which was what Kane wanted. He didn't want her to see him like that. Frankly, he didn't want anyone other than Wesley to see him so distraught.

Near the bookshelf was the card stack Kane had been working on, though showed little progress. In his state of mind, he was unable to keep his hand steady, let alone progress in carefully placing cards on one another. Wesley, looking nearly identical to Kane, stared at him, not saying anything as the rain continued to fall outside, running down the large window Kane had behind his desk. His desk was covered in letters as it typically was.

"Things have been rough for you, haven't they?" Wesley told him in an attempt to comfort Kane. As a response, Kane simply nodded his head.

"They've been more than a little rough." he clarified, still sitting in a hunch. "I think I'm starting to crack, Wesley."

Wesley watched as Kane stood up from the chair, unable to sit still any longer. His friend watched him as he began to pace the room. Pacing was a habit of Kane's, unable to sit still when his mind would race like it was then. Respectfully, Wesley held his tongue, not saying anything just yet. He could tell Kane had something heavy on his mind.

"Can I ask you something?" Kane asked Wesley.

"I'm here aren't, I?"

Kane's pacing halted, only for a moment, so he could look at his friend. Wesley saw a shimmer of anguish in his stare.

"There's a difference between being somewhere physically and being somewhere mentally." Kane told him. "I want to make sure you're ready for what I start telling you. I won't blame you if you don't want to hear me out. You wouldn't be the first."

Wesley smirked at him, as if to say 'you should know better than that'.

"We've been through hell and back, Kane." he told him. "You can ask me whatever it is that's eating at you."

Kane's pacing picked up again with him putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'd be taking a risk saying this," Kane told him. "but honestly I'm at the point of not caring."

Kane kept pacing as he gathered his thoughts. Being respectful as always, Wesley remained quiet.

"The past few weeks I've been slowly breaking me down." Kane opened up. "Maybe it's the added stress due to all of these new responsibilities that have been recently dropped in my lap or maybe it's just the duration of this hell that I've been living in for almost two years that's been slowly getting to me."

Kane kept pacing, wondering if he should stop while he still had the chance. Pushing his second guesses aside, he continued as he still paced back in forth across his office.

"I guess you could say it all started almost two years ago." Kane told him nostalgically. "I was taking a pottery class in a godforsaken whole of a town. Not only was I taking the class, but I was in the position of cleaning up afterward. I wasn't the only one who cleaned up afterward. There was a girl who helped me."

"I see where this is going." Wesley joked. Kane didn't respond in the slightest, too wrapped up in his own thoughts and struggles to respond.

"After I got to know her a little we naturally became friends. The more we got to know each other the more I realized we had a lot in common. And before you ask, no, I didn't have any feelings for her other than being a good friend. Besides-" Kane glanced over to Wesley, seeing him sit in the same position he had been ever since he arrived. "she already had a boyfriend.

"Not a single day would pass when I didn't hear something about him. He was nice, caring, funny, sweet, everything she could ever want in a person. I was happy to hear that he made her happy, wondering who such a marvelous person could be. According to her, he did nothing wrong and when he did it was always justifiable."

"Now I _really_ see where this is going." Wesley chuckled to himself. Once again, Kane didn't respond back to him in any way, still pacing back and forth across the carpeted floor of his office.

"So, one day, I finally met this gift of god that she spoke of. I was taken by surprise when I realized he in fact was nothing like she said he was. He treated her horrible, forced her to do things, and occasionally hit her. After seeing him make her cry, I naturally grew to loath and despise every part of him. Thankfully, it was a long distance relationship."

Kane stopped pacing, looking over to Wesley again.

"Forgive me for such a long set up." he apologized. "If I don't explain everything you might not understand where I'm coming from."

"It's fine." Wesley told him with a nod of his head. "go ahead and continue."

Kane started pacing again, but suddenly stopped, scrunching his forehead and squinting his eyes.

"Where the hell was I?" he muttered.

"You said it was a long distance relationship." Wesley reminded him. Kane snapped his fingers, finally remembering.

"That's right," Kane told him, "like I was saying, it was a long distance relationship. I refrained from saying anything to her about her shit awful boyfriend. I tried my best to hide my discomfort and anger every time she told me stories about how he would take advantage of her, making her even more miserable than she already was, but that's another story all together.

"So time went on, and still, there were no feeling for her. She had turned into my best friend with none of us hiding anything from each other. We'd speak of things that I'm choosing not to repeat simply due to the nature of them. Let's just say they weren't topics people talk about in public. Or maybe even in private for that matter."

Kane kept pacing with his arms tensing up.

"One day she came to me, saying she had done something she wasn't sure of." Kane said. "She had started cheating on her boyfriend with another guy. Granted, I wasn't necessarily supportive of her choice to do something like that to her boyfriend, but from what I was told, this new guy she was seeing was helping her out with her mental issues and depression. So she said.

"Time went by with still no feelings for her. I remember it like it was yesterday too. I was sitting down, eating lunch when she rushed up to me, sitting down with her eyes positivity shimmering with joy. She started telling me about how her and her new boyfriend were messing around. He had bought her some dress up stuff, consisting of kitty ears, tail, and paws. She started-"  
Kane stopped, starting to laugh to himself, though was truly hurting on the inside. It was almost stupid how this story was coming into play. He felt as if he were trapped in a shitty B movie.

"She said she 'rubbed his chest with the kitty paws for over and hour.'"

Wesley frowned, watching as Kane raised his hand, placing it on the bookshelf closest to him. He noticed it tense, gripping onto it hard.

"Is it pathetic if _that's_ when I realized I had feelings for her?" he laughed.

Wesley shook his head, not saying anything.

"Day after day," Kane said still holding onto the bookshelf. "I got to hear about how wonderful this person was, hearing about how well he fucked her. Imagine over a year and a half of hearing that and pretending to be happy about it. Over time, though, I slowly got to learn more about her new boyfriend. I'll be honest, he's no better than the last one she had."

Kane shook his head with a sigh.

"Listen to me bitch, huh?" he laughed. "I'm sorry, I know I'm getting off track. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. During the first few months of the two of them dating I finally told her how I felt, admitting finally that I had feelings for her. I wasn't brave enough to tell her in person, having to text her. I told her that I understood that she most likely wouldn't want to be with me, because we were friends that needed each other simply as friends, nothing more."

"How did she respond?" Wesley asked. Kane shrugged.

"Understandingly." was all he told him, leaving it simply at that. "Still, she would talk about what the two of them did, and being best friends, she didn't leave out any of the details. There's no feeling as painful as looking at the clock, saying to yourself 'I bet the person I love is getting fucked in the ass right now by a complete piece of shit who could care less about her.'

Wesley stared at Kane sceptically.

"Are you saying this because you have factual evidence that who she's dating is a piece of shit or are you saying this out of jealously."

Kane started laughing, forcing himself to let go of the bookshelf and start to pace again.

"Both, I guess." Kane admitted. "I've heard stories about what he's done and who he really is as a person. Not only that, but I know how to read in between the lines better than most. This is where things start to get a little more relevant.

"You see, even though this girl that I care about is in a relationship, I know she has feelings for me. I see it and every time I doubt myself I'm reminded that I'm right."

"How can you be so certain?" Wesley asked him, being an understandable and honest question. Kane once again laughed, shaking his head almost embarrassed.

"Let's just say I know for a fact that she does." he laughed, being very vague. "Not only that, but her current boyfriend is going to going into the United States Army. He's already signed the paperwork and it won't be long before he's shipped off to god knows where. Normally I would respect someone for making such a sacrifice, however, his reasons aren't as selfless as you might expect. He apparently wants 'the thrill of battle' and 'gets chills every time he thinks about it.'

Wesley stared at Kane as if he had misheard him. As if reading his mind, Kane turned to look at him as he kept pacing, giving him a nod.

"That's right." Kane told him. "He's not doing it for the greater good or to help people that need it, but to shoot the living shit out of everything that moves. He's abandoning her, even when she's in a horrible living situation and has chronic depression issues, just so he can fulfill his wet dream of killing people and blowing shit up. He's told her that he might come back for her, but I know his type. He's going to say 'thanks for the fucking', go off to a foreign country with the ambition of pulling bullet wholes into people, only to step on a landmine after rushing into the battlefield like a jackass."

Kane looked down at the floor.

"Unlike him," Kane said sounding a little meek. "I told this girl that I care about that, no matter what happens, I'll always be there for her and never abandon her."

Wesley glanced over to the tome of Flame of Life.

"Sounds like what Matt told Sissy." Wesley commented. Kane shrugged.

"I guess you could say Matt and I have a lot in common." Kane sighed. Finally needing to sit down, he moved over to the leather chair, plopping down into it.

"Now," he said to Wesley. "the question I want to ask you: Is it worth being a backup plan?

Wesley wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm not sure I fully understand." he told him. Kane put his hands together, intermingling his fingers with one another.

"Let's say the girl I've been talking about finally wants to have a relationship with me after her boyfriend abandons her. I'd be happier than words could ever describe, but deep down inside I'd know that the only reason we were together is because her boyfriend who abandoned her isn't in the picture anymore. I'd in a sense be her backup plan."

Wesley watched as Kane stood up again, slowly walked over to his large window behind his desk.

"That's a hard question." Wesley said honestly. "I guess that depends on how much you care about her."

Kane stared out the window, as the rain continued to run down the windowpane.

"More than you could ever fathom." Kane told him as serious as ever. He heard laughing behind him.

"I think you forget," Wesley told him. "we're more alike than you realize. Two sides of the same coin, really."

There was a strike of lightning outside.

Kane turned his head around.

Wesley was gone.

Typical.

Kane looked at his desk along with all of the letters he had gotten. With a sigh, he approached his desk, sitting down in his chair. Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out some paper, setting it down in front of him. Reaching for a pen, he clicked it and put it down to the paper, proceeding to write.

_Dear readers,_

_ It's certainly been a while since the last update and I apologize for keeping you all waiting. As you might have realized by now, my life has been fairly stressful lately. Time that could be spent writing has lately been used staring at walls in the dark, contemplating the question I had just asked. To be honest, there is much MUCH more to the story about this person I love, but would forever to explain. This story is so personal in fact that I won't be letting certain individuals read it. I suppose I am taking a bit of a risk talking about this, but as I said before, I've gotten to the point of not really caring anymore._

_ I'm sorry to all of you die hard fans that you've had to read a small part of my sob story, but as the writer I felt I needed to explain for the sudden drop in updates lately. Putting my personal problems aside, I will try to update as soon as I can. As always, thank you for the reviews and messages. They're always appreciated._

_ -Krimson Kane_

Kane dropped the pen carelessly, standing up from his desk to turn around and look outside the window once again. He stepped forward, reaching into his pocket for his phone. Pulling it out, he searched through his old text messages, finding one he had saved a long, long time ago.

**You're right**, it read. **Both of us need friends like each other. I know from experience that it never works out to date your best friend. And I don't mean to ruin the peace that you've come to yourself with or put fake ideas in your head, but part of the reason I really want to get a place with you- other than the fact that neither of us have anything to lose- is that while I really do like ***** a lot, I just get the feeling that somehow it won't work out and that you and me could stay together as friends because I honestly I am afraid of being alone, and I trust you more than anyone. And more recently I have been wondering, more out of curiosity, if we could be more, and I think years down the road after everything, it is very likely- Knotty.**

Kane slid his phone back into his pocket, letting out another sigh as he placed his head up against the window. He listened to the sound of the storm taking place outside with the phone clutched in his hand.


	59. Chapter 59

_**Chapter 59**_

"Dammit!" Hugo yelled at the top of his lungs, literally flipping over a small table next to him on the first floor of the Candy Club near his couch. "Son of a bitch! How the fuck does this happen?! My biggest god damn investor and his worthless piece of shit body guards are dead!"

Being eight in the morning, the Candy Club was still closed, thankfully with the grunt that had informed Hugo being the only one to see his display of rage. What was supposed to have happened was that very same grunt would meet the investor about the deal with Athena, take his money, then drop her off later that day. When the grunt came inside the home finding two dead bodies on the floor and the investor covered in his own blood upstairs, he knew there was foul play. Seeing the words **Athena's Angel** written in blood on the wall next to him obviously raised some red flags as well.

"That fucking bitch!" Hugo hollered. "How the fuck could she have had connections on the outside?!"

The grunt awkwardly stood there with his hands by his sides, watching as Hugo kicked the flipped over table's leg, snapping it off. It went flying, making the grunt duck as the table's leg flew overhead. Even for a fat, balding man, Hugo still possessed some strength beneath his seemingly weak exterior. Each time Hugo would cuss it made the grunt shutter a little, getting more and more nervous to be around him.

"I think whoever killed them was trying to send us a message, sir." the grunt told him with his voice faltering nervously. "I think they're trying to tell us to stay away from her."

"You think?!" Hugo spat back sarcastically. "No fucking shit they want us to stay away from her! Whoever this fucker is has no idea who they're messing with! If they think I'm gonna stand around with my thumb up my ass while they fuck with my business then they've got another thing coming!"

Hugo reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed in a number, waiting for it to ring. It didn't take long for Darrell to pick up the phone.

"Darrell," Hugo told him, putting his fingers over the bridge of his nose frustrated, shutting his eyes. "I've got a major problem and I think you're the only one who can solve it. I know you didn't want to kill anybody, but I've got a fucking bastard who's tied into that Athena girl you've been fucking lately. I need you to come here and see what you can find out of this bitch. Once you do, hunt down the piece of shit. He killed a few guys, calling himself Athena's Angel, but I have no idea who he really is or what he looks like."

Their was a pause with the grunt watching Hugo listen to the other end.

"Good." Hugo told him with a frown still on his face and his blood pressure raised. "I knew I could count on you. I want this son of a bitch to suffer."

Hugo hung up the phone, tossing it to the couch. He sat down with the grunt still standing there, not sure what to say as Hugo started tugging at his own hair.

"Are...you okay sir?" he asked him. Without looking up, Hugo let out a groan.

"I lost a shit ton of money on a Dratini, I've got a ninjutsu school that's still busting my balls, I've got to make sure we win that stupid badge from the tournament, and now I've got my largest investor pushing up daisies No, I'm not fucking okay."

The grunt just stood there, looking at his boss with his hands in his pockets now, awkwardly toying with the random things within them.

"Well, if you need any moral support, just let me-"

"Get he fuck out." Hugo told him bluntly, not even bothering to look up at him. The grunt did as he was told, quickly hurrying out of the Candy Club in fear of upsetting Hugo anymore. Continuing to sulk, Hugo gripped what was left his hair. The stress was slowly getting to him.

"_**Matt**_."

No response.

"Matt, wake up." Sissy's told him. "It's almost ten. We need to get ready for the tournament."

Sissy, who was in her beast form, was lying on top of Matt with her paws on his chest. Being fairly large in that form, she was afraid that she was going to crush him. On the contrary, Matt didn't even know that she was on him. He was still fast asleep, snoring softly. Sissy narrowed her eyes at him, moving her snout close to his face.

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked him. Matt moved his arms up, stretching in his sleep. They soon plopped down on each side of his pillow with this hands against the wooden headrest of the bed. Sissy nudged her nose against his chin with Matt's eyes moving behind his closed eye lids. His face slightly tensed, moving his head to the side away from Sissy's snout. She sighed, sitting up on him with her paws still on his chest.

"You're not easy to wake up, you know that?"

Matt naturally didn't respond in his slumber. She started tapping on the side of his head with her paw with a doubtful expression on her face. Matt didn't budge in the slightest. This approach wasn't working at all, making Sissy think of other possible ways to wake him up. While still sitting on him, her tail lazily began to wag as her mind worked. Without intending on it, her tail was brushing up against the sheets near Matt's groin. Having morning wood, the feeling of her tail hitting his erection, even if there was a layer of sheets between them, felt incredibly nice, even in his sleep.

"_uhhh..._" he moaned with his mouth slightly opening. This made Sissy pull her head back with her tail ceasing to wag. A little surprised, she soon turned her head, seeing the 'tent' Matt had. Her eyebrows, which were simply dark hairs of fur above her eyes, both raised, not expecting to see him like that. She was still learning about the male anatomy, forgetting about the blood flow that occurred when men slept. Nevertheless, she gained an idea.

A white glow overcame Sissy, turning into her anthro form. She was naked, sitting on top of Matt still. It took her some doing to pull the sheets beneath her considering she was on top of them. She had to wiggle her body a little to pull them back, exposing Matt's body. With the sheets now resting on his shins with Sissy doing a 180 on top of Matt, she was was now staring at the erection hiding behind his boxers.

She leaned forward, working with the front of them, pulling the front area of the boxers open, and pulling out his member. It was still hard as a rock, twitching slightly as she poked it. Matt mumbled something in his sleep as she moved forward, only a few inches away from his unit. Wiggling her body back against his chest to get better positioned, she laid down on him with her butt facing his face, moving her mouth over his dick.

Matt let out a groan in his sleep as she started motioning her lips and tongue against him. The sound of his breathing increased with his heart rate rising from the sexual stimulus. She found the sex noises that he made in his sleep to be actually rather adorable, enjoying being able to please him in such a defenseless state. Her tail started wagging above him with her butt still facing him.

Messing with the head of his penis, she circled her tongue around it, sucking with her lips for added effect. Matt's eyes began to open, waking up to the feelings of tongue and lips against his sensitive area. Not a bad way to start the day, honestly. His eyes focused, having Sissy's tail wagging above him be the first thing he saw.

And her adorable backside.

She was enjoying herself, happy to be pleasing the person she cared most about in her life. The thought of making him happy made her happy, as well as physically excited.

Matt was still trying to wake up, starting to see her nether region actually damp, watching as a little bit of fluid ran down her front, getting on his upper chest. Still a little groggy, he smiled, putting his hands on her thighs that were straddled by his sides. Sissy stopped for a moment, holding back from moaning as Matt rubbed them.

"And what do _you_ think _you're_ doing?" he asked her playfully, still sounding tired. Still laying down on him, she cocked her head around looking at Matt with her hand on his member now. She motioned it up and down once, sending a shiver up his spine from the pleasure.

"I was trying to wake you up." she told him with a smile. "but I got a little carried away. You make cute noises when you sleep."

Sissy started giggling, making Matt get embarrassed.

"Cute?" Matt questioned. "I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but a guy doesn't necessarily want to be considered sounding cute."

Sissy smugly smiled at him, lightly motioning her hand up and down against his member again, making Matt accidentally moan for a second time, thus making her laugh sweetly even more.

"But they _are_." she told him sincerely. "Your moans are sexy."

Matt raised an eyebrow, smirking as he rubbed her outer thighs.

"That's a little better than cute." he told her. Matt pulled Sissy's body closer to his face, leaning his head forward near her crotch as she kept lying on him. Matt stuck his finger in her, soon motioning his tongue against her privates as well. Sissy accidentally squeaked as he pleasured her, sending out an 'eep'. He moved his head back, but kept messing with her insides with his finger still.

"Your noises are much more sexy in my opinion." he teased. "And certainly more 'cute.'"

Matt kept toying with her privates, making Sissy's fur stand on end with her tail wagging even more now. Her tail was wagging so much it was like had a fan over his head it seemed. Even with the pleasure overcoming her, she forced herself to focus on pleasing Matt as well. She leaned forward again, moving her mouth over his unit. The two of them continued to please each other, every now and then with each of them making a noise of sexual gratification.

This went on for some time with the ability to refrain from making sounds of pleasure becoming nearly impossible for either one of them. Matt's hands were on Sissy hips, still motioning his tongue against privates. Sissy forced herself to keep pleasuring Matt with her mouth, licking the head of his member with her tongue, making him shutter every time. Both of them weren't going to last for much longer.

Perfectly in sync, both of them finished, too focused on pleasing the other and the amazing euphoria of the oral pleasure to warn each other. Sissy was greeted with a warm load of Matt's seed, nearly choking on it as it shot into the back of her throat. Love juices ran out of Sissy, feeling it drain down onto his chin and down to his neck.

Matt breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. His tired head flopped back onto his pillow, not hearing a sound from Sissy. He yawned, moving his hands onto her rump.

"Good morning to you too." he told her, giving her a playful swat. Without meaning to, it made her jump, accidentally swallowing his semen that she was trying to figure out how to get out of her mouth without making a mess. She coughed with Matt wondering what was wrong. "Are you okay?"

"I swallowed it..." she told him sounding a little unsure about what she had done. Matt wasn't sure if this was a bad thing or a good thing, but considering her comments the taste of it last time, he doubted this was something she had anticipated on doing. He frowned, feeling a little guilty.

"Sorry..." he apologized, not sure how to follow that up. Sissy sat up on Matt with her back still facing him. Her tail wagged a little, brushing him in the face playfully.

"It's fine." she told him sounding shy. "It just tastes really bitter..."

Matt watched as she motioned her body around, lying on her front to face him. With their faces only a few inches away from each other, he smiled at her.

"You ready for our big day?" He asked her. Matt saw her tail wag behind her.

"I've been ready." she told him with confidence, giving him a kiss on the nose.

_**"Darrell**_," Doug told his friend as the two of them stood outside of the suite, near the door with it still slightly ajar. "it's okay that you have to leave."

Darrell shook his head, in his regular clothes again.

"I just feel horrible leaving Aurora, just dropping her in your lap like this." he told him.

Doug put his hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him a friendly smile.

"It's okay." he told him with the smile being forced, trying to hide how worried he was for him. "Whatever it is that you're doing I know it must be important."

There was a pause with Darrell not looking at him. That was never a good sign to Doug.

"Doug," he told him. "you've been a good friend to me and I don't want to have to hide things from you, but please believe me when I say I'm keeping you in the dark for a reason."

Doug removed his hand from Darrell's shoulder with a frown, though understood his reasoning.

"You know me," Doug told him. "I've never been one to pry into other people's business. Just make sure you don't do anything stupid. You're my best friend and I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

Darrell laughed to himself, starting to just walk away from Doug without any prior warning.

"No promises..." Darrell said half joking with his back facing him. Doug watched as Darrell slowly walk away from him in the direction of the elevators. He knew there was something wrong, praying everything would be alright. What he _didn't_ know was that Aurora had been listening near the door the entire time.

She was sitting on the floor near the door of the suite with her coloring book and her few crayons she had at her disposal. Bomber was pacing behind the couch, muttering to himself about the day, telling himself that he could face whatever it was he had to go up against. Shade could hear everything he was mumbling, sitting on the couch with a depressed look on her face. As much as she wanted to help, she knew she couldn't. Not having the TV on, she could hear Bomber still mumbling to himself along with the rain outside still pouring. Would it ever stop?

"You've got this..." Bomber told himself, reaching up to adjust his navy blue aviator cap and goggles on his head with his large wings. "You're strong, you're smart, you're-"

"Sexy as hell." Shade said with with a single laugh, lacking enthusiasm due to her depression. Bomber stopped pacing for a moment, looking over the couch towards Shade. She was slouched with her flip flops hanging halfway off of her feet carelessly. Otto was also sitting near the couch, tinkering with his fried game console on the floor. Clara was watching him work, sitting happily beside her trainer.

"Not as sexy as you are." Bomber laughed with a wink of his eye, feeling a little less stressed. With a screwdriver in hand, Otto glanced up at Shade, then redirected his vision towards Bomber, who soon went back to pacing.

"Are you two actually into each other or are you just joking?" Otto asked. "It's getting kinda hard to tell anymore."

Nobody responded to him. Otto just sighed, accepting being unheard. Again.

Rachel was also up, holding Odin in her arms as she stood by the window of the suite, staring out it and watching the rain, which was now becoming a habit of hers. Beside her was Laurence, who had been following her around like a dog would do to their owner, refusing to hardly let her be alone for even a moment. Ever since Darrell had come home the night before he was tense. Being a Gengar, he could smell death all over him. It radiated around Darrell, making Laurence become protective of his mistress.

Letting out a sigh, Rachel pet Odin's head with her thoughts still clouded. She was once again thinking about having to leave everyone with only her and Otto going back to where they came from. It would be a sad day for sure, but she knew she had to. She couldn't just abandon her old life. Could she? Laurence watched his mistress shake her head, seeing that she was clearly at war with herself internally.

"Forgive me if I step out of line, my Lady," Laurence told her as polite as ever. "but I sense that something is troubling you."

"Hmm?" Rachel glanced over to her suited Gengar, seeing him legitimately concerned for her mental well being.

"I am not sure I have ever seen you so lost in thought before." he told her. "Is anything the matter?"

Rachel just shrugged, not saying anything back to him. Laurence's hands were in his slack pockets, foundling the cigarette lighter her had. He had been craving a smoke for days, but currently was too afraid to leave her alone. He knew deep down inside that nothing would happen to her, but he had been shaken up by the sight of blood on Darrell's hands as he stumbled inside in the late hours of the night. The thought alone wanted him to draw near her in fear something would happen.

"If there is anything you need to let out," he told her kindly, "please know that I am here for you as I always have been."

"Thank you." she told him meekly with Odin yawning in her arms. "I'm fine, really."

Laurence knew she wasn't being honest about how she was truly feeling, but in respect for his mistress didn't call her out on it.

"You guys think Matt's up yet?" Bomber asked, wondering when they were going to go down to the arena room. The anxiety was eating at him, wanting to get the show on the road. As if being summoned, Matt's door opened with him and Sissy exiting. He was fully dressed, wearing his crimson jacket and hat that was on backwards with his hair sticking out the front of it. Sissy was surprisingly in her beast form- a form she was rarely seen in.

"Sorry I took so long to get up." Matt said to everyone. "I had an interesting morning."

Sissy visibly blushed, averting her eye contact with everyone, staring down at the floor casually. Her tail, though, was wagging happily. Matt adjusted his belt with Bomber and Sissy's Pokeballs on it. Emie and Shade's Pokeballs were also on his belt, even though he knew that he wasn't going to be using them any time soon. As this was all going on, Doug reentered the room, seeing Aurora sitting on the floor with her coloring book, scribbling all over a page of it carelessly.

"You want us to come and watch?" Rachel asked. Matt shook his head almost as soon as she asked the question.

"That's nice of you to offer," he told her, "but I have a feeling this might take a while. I wouldn't want you guys to be sitting around being bored."

"Fine." Shade said, turning on the couch, looking at Matt with a smirk. "But you better win. I might go postal if I'm stuck here any longer than I have to be."

Laurence frowned at her exaggeration, not finding it even slightly funny, still nervous about Darrell being with the group. He forced himself to stay silent, though seriously wanted to reprimand her for saying something so inappropriate, even if she didn't realize it.

Bomber confidently puffed out his feathers.

"I'm ready to do this!" he told Matt. Sissy stood up on all fours again, arching her back slightly with her tail waving side to side.

"As am I." she said just as sure of herself as Bomber was. Matt smiled, adjusting his hat.

"Then lets go get ourselves a badge, guys." Matt said with a grin.

**[Note From the Author-**

** Sorry it's been so long since the last chapter, readers. I've been fairly busy trying to keep up with Flame of Life due to work, other literary endeavors, as well as getting acclimated with certain aspects of life (mostly pertaining to personal issues). I understand that this chapter is short and has little progression in the story arch, and please believe me when I say that I feel guilty for dragging this arch out for so long, though I know I can't rush things. Just a handful more chapters and this arch should be completed. I'll do my best to update the story as soon as possible, and as always, thank you for your patience and understanding.**

** -Krimson Kane] **


	60. Chapter 60

_**Chapter 60**_

_**Emie**_ and master Nagato had started training again, with Emie mimicking him as perfect as ever. She felt sweat on her forehead, getting her fur damp as she thrusted her arm forward to do a punch with another punch following afterward. Her muscles felt tense, but not to the point where they were going to start hurting. She felt more vigor and energy flowing through her after her conversation and tea with master Nagato, ready to progress further in her training.

Her master suddenly stopped, making Emie nearly fall off balance from the unexpected halt. Luckily she didn't fall flat on her face, barely managing to stay stable on the balls of her feet. She glanced over at her master, seeing him smile and nod his head in approval.

"I think it is safe to say that you are ready for the next step in your training." master Nagato told her confidently, proud to see her progress. Emie closed her eyes as she wiped her white sleeve of her training outfit across her face, removing the sweat. She stood before him as the he motioned for her to follow him. Doing as she was instructed, she followed close by his side as they walked across the ninjutsu school.

"I have never had a student learn so quickly." He told her as they walked, hearing Emie's bare feet pat the wooden floor beneath her. She found it almost unnerving how he could walk without making the slightest noise, even with her adept hearing thanks to her ears.

Master Nagato stopped outside of a large door, placing his hand on the side of it. Emie watched as he slid it open, having her mouth slightly hang open as soon as she saw everything that was on the other side. On the walls were katana's, just like what the ninja's used in the TV show she watched. They were on racks, being displayed like they were art, and considering each of their designs, they pretty much were. All being different colors and having unique designs, they were truly magnificent.

Emie's gaze went unchanged, unable to look away from the wall of swords. She was so focused that she didn't notice her master approaching a small box on a low-set table made of bamboo that rested against the eastern wall of the room. He reached down, opening the box with his back facing Emie as she continued to gawk. Turning back around to face her, Master Nagato held two things in his hands, both appearing to be sharp.

Her master lifted one of them with Emie redirecting her focus from the swords to the strange looking star thing master Nagato held in his hand. The candles that lit the room were bright enough to make it seemingly sparkle as he motioned is around, letting Emie get a good look at it's details. It was in the shape of a five pointed star and it's edges were sharp, looking like they could easily tear through flesh. The star had a tendency to catch her eye, making it personally stand out to Emie.

"This is a shuriken." her master told her while he continued to hold the sharp star-shaped object in his hand. "Though most simply call it a throwing star."

Emie's heart jumped when her master threw the star past her, having it stick into the wall by one of it's deadly points. It had come nowhere near hitting her, but nevertheless scared her to the point of wanting to let out a verbal cry. Surprisingly she withheld from vocalizing her fear, which wouldn't have been understandable even if she did since she wasn't wearing her talker collar at the time.

In his other hand, master Nagato raised up a knife that had a circular shape at the bottom of it that had a hole through it. On the knife was a grip made of what looked like some sort of tape, being gray and a little old. The blade of the knife was pointed, with the 'base' of it being thicker.

"This is a kunai." her master further explained, "but it is also called a throwing knife."

Doing the same as before, he threw the knife with incredible precision, stabbing through the wood behind Emie on her other side, making her heart jump again, though definitely not as much as the first time he had done it. She let out a silent sigh of relief as her master put his arms in front of him, hiding his hands with the sleeves.

"Meowth," he told her with his eyes focused on her. "you must remember that a good shinobi uses their tools for many uses. In order to do so, you must learn use them. Take the kunai and the shuriken from the wall."

Emie turned around, examining both throwing weapons. They looked really sharp. And a little scary. Regardless, she pulled out the throwing knife with a solid tug, though had a little difficulty getting it out. Emie carefully grabbed one of the edges of the throwing star, unsure as to how she was supposed to get it out. She couldn't grip by it's edge do to the obvious fact that it would cut her. Emie placed her fingers on the flat part of the throwing star, pitching it as hard as she could.

With a yank, she pulled it out of the wall. However, she wasn't expecting to accidentally send it flying backwards from the force she had put into yanking it out. She fell backwards with the throwing star being sent flying across the room. Emie let out a grunt as she fell on her back, seeing her master.

As well as the throwing star that had accidentally been sent in his direction.

With her perception flipped still from being on her back, she saw her master raise his hand and the throwing star stop. It had taken Emie a minute to realize that he had caught it between his fingers as if it were a play toy, unscathed by it's edges. He couldn't help but smile at her suddenly.

"More importantly," he told her, "I shall be showing you how to use them _correctly_."

A little embarrassed that her master would have been dead if he wasn't so skilled in his craft, she got up slowly from the wooden floor with the throwing knife still in her hand. She held it like a pacifist would hold a loaded gun, unsure what to do with it or how to even throw it. Emie looked up in the direction of her master, who was still holding the throwing star.

"How about we start with the kunai first." He told her. "We can work on using the throwing star a little later. Now, throw it at me."

Emie's eyes widened with her ears folding back. Master Nagato saw the fear in her eyes.

"It is alright, Meowth," he assured her. "I will be fine."

Emie took a deep breath with her ears coming back up with her confidence returning. She held the throwing knife in her right hand with her grip tightening. She pulled her arm back, then proceeded to lob the knife. As she did, she closed her eyes fearfully, not wanting to harm her master.

There was the sound of the throwing knife hitting wood.

Emie opened her eyes and blinked. She saw her master looking up at the ceiling with his emotions seeming a little suppressed. Master Nagato was trying to hold back his laughter. Unsure what he was looking at, Emie glanced up, seeing the throwing knife that she had attempted to throw was sticking in the ceiling boards of the ninjutsu school.

"Perhaps I should first show you _how_ to throw..." Master Nagato told her, doing his best not to start laughing.

"_**How**_ many trainers do you think are going to be in this competition?" Sissy asked Matt as he and her walked out of the elevator, still with her being in her beast form. Bomber was put in his Pokeball, simply because he was a bit too large to be wandering around with the plethora of other people they were passing just to get to the arena room. It was pretty crowded in the Pokemon center.

"From the looks of it," Matt told her as he carefully brushed past a few people. "I'd say a lot."

Sissy looked up at Matt as she walked by his side on all fours. She could see the nervous look he had, even though he tried his best to hide it. Not wanting to upset him, she decided to not say anything.

"Sissy," Matt said suddenly, "we don't have to do this if you don't want to..."

Sissy frowned as the two of them walked side by side still, getting closer to the entrance of the arena room of the Pokemon center.

"Of course I want to, Matt." she told him, not sure what had provoked such a statement to come from him.

"I just don't want you to get hurt." he told her seriously. "I have no idea what we're up against and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you or Bomber."

Moving in front of him, Sissy stopped, making Matt do the same. Being a solid five feet tall on all fours, she was an unmovable object to him.

"Bomber and I will be fine." she told her flat out. "You're an amazing trainer and I know we can get through anything as long as you're helping us."

Matt looked into her eyes, seeing just how serious she was. He smiled, bending over enough so he could hug her around her large, strong neck. Sissy's tail started wagging happily, unable to help being happy that Matt was showing affection. Matt felt Sissy playfully lick the side of his face. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on," he told her, looking up in the direction of the arena room, seeing trainers making their way inside. "We better hurry before it gets too crowded."

"Okay." Sissy agreed, still with her tail wagging.

"_**No!**_" the woman yelled angrily. "This can't be happening! Tell that lazy bastard that if he doesn't get his ass in gear he's fired!"

Dressed in a nice blouse and a business slacks, the woman in charge of the tournament broadcasting was yelling into her phone. She was standing in the lobby of the Pokemon center, listening to the other person on the line.

"I don't care if he's got kidney stones!" she hollered. "He's the damn announcer! We can't broadcast without having an announcer! You know what, no! Fuck you!"

She hung up her phone, throwing it down on the floor. The woman felt a wave of panic overcome her, putting her index fingers over the bridge of her nose and pitch. Hard.

"Shit shit shit!" she snarled. "The tournament is starting in less than fifteen minutes and I don't have an announcer! God, what I wouldn't do for someone to walk in and-"

At that moment, Kane stumbled inside the Pokemon center. In his nice gray coat, a pair of jeans that were getting worn out at the knees, and brown sneakers that looked fairly new, he put his hand on his head. The director of the tournament stared at him, watching as Kane rubbed the top of his head with rainwater from outside gracefully flying off of him. The woman blinked, getting a little lost in his facial features. They were so welcoming, and admittedly, in her opinion, very attractive.

"What I wouldn't give for a drink..." he mumbled to himself, exhausted from literally running from Pallet town to Pewter city. It had taken him a few days, but he'd finally made it. After getting an interview from Mom, he intended on following Matt's steps. He'd stopped by a few places along the way, interviewing the people of Viridian city and even stopped at Don's airfield for a little Q and A. Kane felt like he was about to drop.

He painfully dug his feet in the direction of the arena room, having signs everywhere showing off the tournament. Minding his own business, he was cut off by the director.

"You!" she said nearly in a state of shock. "You're perfect!"

Kane stared at her, wondering the condition of her mental stability. He'd run into plenty of crazy people in his travels and knew better than to try and provoke them.

"Um...thank you?" he told her politely. She shook her head.

"No, you don't understand!" she said, now getting antsy.

"You're correct," Kane said sarcastically. "I don't. Was that all or can I go now?"

"Do you have any experience speaking?" she asked him sounding very rushed. Kane thought about it, finding her question to be a bit odd.

"I've done plenty of stand up comedy and I'm fairly charismatic, so I suppose I-"

"Good!" she told him. "I have a job for you. It pays well and I think you're perfect for it. You're handsome and seem to know how to use your tongue."

Kane suddenly blushed.

"Might I ask where this is going?" he asked her with an awkward cough. "No offense, you're not bad looking yourself, but I usual at _least_ would like to go on a few dates before-"

Kane stopped, seeing her getting red in the face too.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that I'm _way_ off, aren't I?"

She nodded. Kane tried to smoothly play off to uncomfortable atmosphere he had just created for the two of them.

"So what might this job be?" he inquired.

"_**What**_ would you like, Aurora?" Doug asked nicely, standing in the kitchen with the refrigerator open. Aurora was staring inside, examining all of the juice they had. "We have grape, strawberry, orange, and-"

Without saying anything, Aurora reached inside, pulling out the carton of pink lemonade. Doug watched her with a surprised look plastered on his face as she wandered over to the couch with it.

"Are you sure you don't want a cup?" Doug asked unsure. Aurora was completely silent, not even making any kind physical gesture in response. She acted like she didn't hear him. Instead, she sat down on the floor in front of the C shaped couch, although it resembled more of a square missing one side to it. Shade, who was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed couldn't help but smile at the little silver haired Dratini girl.

"The girl certainly knows what she wants." Shade joked, flipping the channel as she surfed through what was on. Sitting beside her was Otto, who was tempted to reach out and nab it from her. She hadn't stopped on a single channel for more than a minute before changing it.

"Can't you just find something to watch already?" Otto said a little irritated, having little Clara sitting in his lap happily, content no matter what, it seemed.

"Nothing good is on." Shade rebuttaled. "I don't intend on watching mindless crap. I'm trying to find something educational and stimulating."

Otto rolled his eyes with Clara watching him. He suddenly covered her ears, not wanting her to hear his next sentence.

"Porn doesn't count." Otto snickered. He released Clara's ears with her rubbing them with her little paws. Shade shot him a nasty glare, glaring at him as if they were having a showdown.

"If I wanted to watch porn I'd just use your laptop." she came back. That got Otto pretty good, forcing him to look away from her as if defeated. Shade snicked in his direction, flipping the channel once more.

"That's what I thought..." she mumbled under her breath.

"Play nice you two." Doug laughed, coming over to the couch, hopping over and plopping down.

Laurence was over near the window with Rachel, who was holding Odin in her arms, looking over his shoulder at everyone sitting on the couch. Shade kept flipping through the channels.

**"-only nine dollars at your nearest-"**

Shade flipped the channel.

"-**one shot, you son of a bitch. That's all I nee-"**

Shade flipped the channel again with Otto having to cup Clara's ears, even though it was too late. She couldn't understand why he was doing it.

"And now, the Pewter City Tournament! Coming to you live from-"

Shade flipped the channel out of habit, though quickly went back to the last channel she had been on. The screen changed with a flashy intro of a Pokeball busting open with an explosion in the background. Everyone's eyes were now on the screen with the intro fading. Cutting to a young man sitting at a desk sitting in the arena room on a high rise that had been set up above the bleachers, appearing to be a new addition to the room.

In a nice black shirt with the words "**Got Yiff?**" in large white letters on the front of it, the young man had a smile on his face. His light blue eyes and his soft brown hair that he kept trimmed short looked good on him.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Tournament." he said, with Otto's eyes widening. "My name's Kane and it looks like I'll be hosting this large event."

"Kane?..." Otto said to himself confused. What the hell was he going on TV hosting?

"Holy crap..." Rachel said sounding a little shy. "He's pretty hot..."

Shade looked over towards Rachel with a raised eyebrow. She shook her head at her, then proceeded to look over in the direction of the reader, completely breaking the fourth wall.

"Certainly an unbiased opinion..." she said sarcastically with a laugh the direction of the reader still.

"Who are you talking to?" Doug asked, trying to look in the direction Shade was looking in, though saw nothing. Shade just laughed to herself, not responding. Kane, who was still live on television glared into the camera, though forced himself to get over the fact that Shade had broken the forth wall. He cleared his throat and proceeded onward.

"For those of you new to how national ruled tournaments work," Kane said, with the camera cutting down to all of the trainers sitting on the bleachers, some of which chose to sit on the floor on the side of the bleachers with their Pokemon out of their Poke balls. "There are 128 contestants. Each match will be randomly generated with the loser being cut out and the winner moving onto the next round. Due to the large number of contestants, the matches will be for only three minutes with the player who either knocks out all enemies Pokemon or has done the most damage winning. There will be one match today with the remaining 64 contestants returning tomorrow to hash it out some more."

The camera panned, showing all of the trainers. It was Doug who was able to spot Matt and Sissy out from the crowd, seeing them sitting on the floor near the front. Matt looked nervous as hell. Just before the camera panned away from them, Doug saw Sissy put her large paw on Matt's leg as if to comfort him.

"I feel as though we should watch this." Laurence said with his hands in his pockets. "Even if we can't be there to support Matt personally, we can at least do so, in a sense, spiritually."

Shade wondered if Laurence was trying to crack a joke considering he and her were technically ghosts. He sounded serious enough, so she told herself not to force a laugh. Laurence glanced over at his mistress, seeing her squinting her eyes at the television, now with Kane back in view. She was eying the words on his shirt.

"What does 'yiff' mean?..." she wondered out loud.

Otto secretly acted like he didn't hear her, holding back a smile.

"_**Shit**_," Matt said quietly to Sissy by his side. "I wish I wasn't so damn nervous."

Her paw was still on his leg as he sat on the floor beside her, with them both waiting for the tournament to start.

"We'll be fine." she told him. "You're an amazing trainer."

Matt laughed silently to himself.

"You're just saying that." he told her. She shook her head, looking over to him, having to look down since she was taller than him when they sat.

"I'm not." she assured him. "With you giving me orders I feel like I can do anything. I _know_ I can."

Matt looked into her eyes, seeing the seriousness of her words. It meant a lot to him to hear her say that. With a grin, he motioned for her to lower her head towards him, as if wanting to whisper something in her ear. A little confused as to what he might have to say, she did so, lowering her head down close to Matt. Sissy's ear twitched when his mouth moved close to it.

"I love you more than you'll ever know." he told her, giving her a kiss on the side of her face afterward. She blushed with her tail wagging happily from his affection. She felt his hand moved to her back, petting her sweetly. She was as content as ever, not feeling the slightest bit of pressure.

"You two make a cute couple." a voice said from Matt's left side, with Sissy being on his right. Both of them turned their heads, seeing a trainer sitting on the floor cross legged. He was wearing tan shorts and a green shirt. His eyes were a vibrant green that matched it along with an identical green stripe that went down his hair, having that portion being the only dyed part of his black hair that swooped at the bangs. He appeared to be in his early twenties and had rough stubble on his face.

"Excuse me?" Matt asked, purposely acting coy. He wasn't sure how someone would react to seeing a trainer giving their Pokemon a kiss, let alone know that they were in a relationship.

"You two are a couple, aren't you?" he said, as if to validate what he had said previously.

"Yes, we are." Sissy responded, slightly on edge now with her tail ceasing to wag, unsure where this conversation was headed. The young man smiled, waving his hand in front of him as if to say he had no intention of ridiculing them.

"I really mean it, you two make a cute couple." he assured them. "I'm not being a smart ass or anything. My sister says you two came from Pallet town, am I right?"

Sissy and Matt looked at each other confused, then looked back at the young man with the green shirt, eyes, and dyed part of hair.

"Who's your sister?" Matt asked. He smiled at them, putting his hand on the back of his neck as he closed his eyes.

"I guess Amber hasn't mentioned me then." he chuckled. Matt's interested was sparked by Amber's name.

"Amber is your sister?" Matt said astounded. Still with his eyes closed and his mouth curved into a cheery smile, he nodded.

"That's right." he told her. "I guess I can understand that she hasn't said anything to you about her brothers. We tend to get on her bad side a lot."

"Brothers?" Sissy repeated. He nodded.

"Yeah, she has two brothers, being the only girl in the family. I'm the youngest and her other brother is the oldest. Like I said, we end up ticking her off a lot so she tries to act like we don't exist."

"What's your name?" Matt asked him curiously. The young man's eyes opened, still with his hand on his neck. He nervously stared back at Matt, who was waiting for an answer.

"Um, my name?" he said, as if stalling. "It, uh...Goose."

"_Goose_?" Sissy said aloud, not sure if she had misheard him. "I know I'm not in the position to judge others when it comes to names, but that's a bit of a peculiar name, don't you think?"

Goose let out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess." he told them. "As you could probably assume, I got beat up a lot when I was a kid thanks to my mother's choice of name. She said it expressed my lighter and more 'graceful' side."

Matt cocked his head a little to the side, wondering if he should comment or not.

"Not to be a dick," Matt said. "I'm not sure how a goose is graceful."

Goose nodded his head.

"I know, stupid, right?" he laughed, as if just shrugging off the fact that he had an odd name. "It's not that big of a deal now. It at least stands out."

"You can say that again." Matt chuckled. He felt Sissy hit him with her paw in the ribcage as if to tell him to knock it off. Not knowing her own strength, she nearly cracked it, making Matt clench his side in pain. Needless to say, he got the message not to make fun of Goose's name.

"My sister also told me how you two met," he told them. "she said you woke up in her home and had Sissy nearly try to decapitate you when you stumbled downstairs."

Matt wondered just how much Amber had told him, curious to know if Goose knew about the other dimension he had come from. He decided it was best not to pry and avoided the subject.

"Talk about love at first sight." Matt joked, with Sissy getting shy about the topic. "Nothing like dating someone dangerous enough to be able to cut your head off."

Sissy frowned, not sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Her self consciousness started kicking in with her head lowering a little. Matt smirked at her, putting his hand on her paw.

"I couldn't love her more even if I tried though." he followed up, making her tail slowly wag.

The large screens that hung on the walls of the arena room's walls lit up, being black with random pictures of people being scanned through, switching so fast that it all looked like a blur.

"Looks like they're starting." Goose said to them. Matt and Sissy watched the screen as the pictures switching started to slow down. It was almost annoying how slow it got. Sissy's eyes widened when she saw Matt's picture on on the left side of the screen followed by another picture to the right of it, being of a young woman with a sunhat and sunglasses. She was making a kissy face, appearing to look like a duck in a way.

"Alright," Kane said into his microphone from his platform over the bleachers. "It looks like our first contestants are Matt Venero and Trixe Scott. Both trainers please step up to the arena."

Matt swallowed hard, not expecting to go up first out of all of the possible contestants that were there. Goose looked over to him as he got up to his feet with Sissy standing on all fours.

"Good luck, man." he told him. "I'll be rooting for you."

Matt gave him an acknowledging nod of his head, thanking him for his support.

The two of them bravely walked out to the left side of the battle area with the girl in the sunhat and sunglasses trotting over to the other side. Matt took his place behind the line with Sissy obediently standing by his side, ready for battle. Trixe, the girl he was facing, was wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off with pants stopping at the shin. Her hip stuck out as she grabbed for a Pokeball on her belt.

Matt glanced up at the screen on the wall he was facing, seeing his picture with the words 'Point Count' labeled underneath. He reached for Sissy's Pokeball, making sure it was on green. Up on the screen, a countdown was taking place, starting from ten. A referee was standing by the side of the battle area as the numbers counted down.

"Do your best." Matt told Sissy. She arched her back, getting ready for a fight.

"You can count on it." she told him confidently.

3...2...1...

A buzzer went off, with the girl in the sunglasses throwing out a Pokeball.

A red flash appeared, soon taking the form of a small mole. It had beady black eyes with small paws and a pink little nose.

"Let's do this Diglett!" she yelled. Matt thrusted out his hand towards it with Sissy darting off onto the battle area.

"Go get him, Sissy!" Matt ordered. Sissy sprinted on all fours in the direction off the Diglett with a flame bursting all around her. Each step she took a flame emanated from, sending fear into the heart of the Diglett and the trainer that had sent it out. A small half foot Diglett put against a five foot tall Growlithe wasn't the smartest move to make on her part.

Sissy bashed into the Diglett, sending it flying through the air in the direction of her trainer. She ducked right in time with her Pokemon flying out of the battle area. There was the sound of a long drawn out whistle coming from Kane, who was narrating the battle.

"Looks like Trixe's Diglett wasn't much of a match for Matt's Growlithe, ladies and gentlemen." Kane said. "Hopefully she's got sometime a little more challenging before the clock times out."

Matt glanced up at the clock on the screen, seeing **2:53** left out of the original three minutes. If Sissy kept up that kind of a fight they'd probably be done in no time. Sissy stood her ground on the battle area with whispers being heard from the crowd as she had flames coming off of her, however didn't appear to be burning her fur of skin at all.

The female trainer returned her Diglett, grabbing another Pokeball from her belt. She tossed it in the air, caught it, then chucked it into the battle area. Another small creature appeared on the battle area, being a female Nidoran. It was a light shade of blue and lacked a horn on it's forehead, as all females did.

"Looks like Trixe is going to be sticking with the cute and cuddly types." Kane said with a hint of humor in his tone. "Let's hope her Nidoran can stand up to Matt's Growlithe."

Matt started thinking with Sissy letting out a growl. Fire spurted out of her nose, sending fear into the Nidoran's heart. Being only a fraction of the size she was, the Nidoran began to shake fearfully, though held it's ground.

"Take it down, Sissy!" Matt ordered. She charged at it with the Nidoran desperately trying to move out of the way. Unable to dodge the powerhouse that Sissy was, it was bit in the upper back near it's neck. It let out a shrill of pain with Sissy shaking it side to side.

"That's enough!" Matt told her. "Now let it fly!"

Sissy flung her head back, sending the Nidoran into the air. Everyone watched in awe, even Kane who was narrating, watching as the little Nidoran came crashing back down onto the floor of the battle area, completely limp. Kane cringed and shook his head.

"That's gonna leave a mark." he commented.

Trixie frowned with her brow furrowed, still with her sunglasses on. She returned her Nidoran, having it sucked back into it's Pokeball. Holstering it onto her side, she reached for her last Pokemon. She pulled her arm back, lobbing it out into the battle area.

With a burst of red light, a large bird Pokemon took form. Having brown feathers covering the majority of it's body, it had a long, sharp beak with red plumage on the top of it's head, almost making a small mohawk. It's eyes were a piercing brown, standing seven feet tall on it's talons. It was as large as Bomber was, however, looked far different from a Pidgeotto. Matt used his Pokemon knowledge, deciphering that it was a Fearow.

"Tear that Growlithe apart, Fearow!" Trixie ordered. The Fearow let out a loud screech, making Sissy's ears fold back in discomfort. She shook her head, almost not realizing what was happening in front of her. The Fearow had started flapping it's wings, starting to create a gust of wind around it. Matt's mind raced, wondering what the best course of action would be.

"Sissy," he ordered. "use a fire attack, now!"

Sissy inhaled deeply, letting out a loud bark with a flame following. The burst of fire was sent in the direction of the Fearow, who had simultaneously sent the gust of wind in her direction at the same time. With the flame and the gust of wind intermixing, a large flame grew, practically blinding the trainers in the audience.

"Now that's what I call a fireworks show!" Kane chimed. "It seems Trixe has more than just cute Pokemon in her arsenal!"

Sissy charged in the direction of the Fearow, leaping for it's neck. Before she could make contact, the Fearow took flight, flying up into the air. Matt looked up, seeing it circle around her, too fast for her to focus on it. Sissy barked, sending more fire at it, though kept missing. Matt knew progress wouldn't be made if this kept up, grabbing Bomber's Pokeball by his side.

"Sissy, return!" he commanded. Sissy turned her head, unsure, however didn't argue with him. She quickly ran behind the battle line with Matt throwing out Bomber's Pokeball. He appeared from the red light the Pokeball emitted, appearing before the crowd with a fire in his eyes, still with his blue aviator cap and goggles. Kane pulled his head back a little amused, soon smiling.

"Looks like Matt has some tricks up his sleeves too." Kane told everyone. "Talk about a fashionable Pidgeotto! If I'm not mistaken this is the same Pidgeotto that stopped the Nidoking rampage here in this very room. It appears we have some celebrities joining us, folks!"

Some of the trainers were pointing and looking at each other, remembering seeing Bomber from the news, now realizing that Matt indeed had on the news as well. Bomber started flapping his wings, taking off for the air as well. The crowd watched as Bomber and the Fearow flew in circles, matching each others movements. Trixe threw her arm to the side, giving her Fearow and order.

"Ram into him!" she ordered. Her Fearow did what it was told, adjusting it's flight direction, soon accelerating to a deadly speed towards Bomber.

"Roll out of the way!" Matt told him. Bomber was way ahead of him, closing his wings and moving them into his body. He dropped like a stone towards the floor of the battle area with a barrel roll as the Fearow passed overhead. Before making impact with the ground, Bomber spread out his wings and swooped back upwards, making a complete 180 back towards the Fearow that had passed by him.

"Now Grapple onto him!" Matt ordered. Bomber was flying over the Fearow, who looked up, seeing the large Pidgeotto in the aviator cap and goggles fall down onto him. Bomber wrapped his wings around the Fearow. The two of them instantly started having gravity take over, being sent down towards the ground.

"Do a drill spin!" Matt told him. Following orders, Bomber started spinning as he plummeted for the floor with the Fearow wrapped in his wings, unable to move. Right before hitting the floor, Bomber let go, spreading his wings before making contact with the ground. The Fearow however, from being spun was too dazed to do the same, making a head on smash with the flooring.

The Fearow was out cold with Bomber making touchdown onto the floor. A buzzer went off with Trixe returning her Pokemon back into it's ball. The trainers in the audience started cheering and clapping with Kane smirking up on the platform he was on.

"It looks like we've got ourselves a winner!" he said as the trainers continued to cheer. Sissy wagged her tail with Matt doing a victory fist pump. Bomber gave a playful bow to the audience with the straps of his aviator cap moving along with him as he bobbed his head down gracefully.

_**From**_ the comfort of the suite, Shade jumped up from the couch as they all watched this from TV, letting out a cheer.

"Yeah!" she cried as she started jumping up and down. "That's my sexy avian lover!"

Aurora, who still had the carton of pink lemon aid, watched as Shade did so, a little bothered by how excited she was. She found her to be too noisy. Otto nodded his head in approval with Doug clapping happily. Clara looked over at Doug, trying to imitate him. She let out a cute laugh as she clapped her paws together.

"Alright!" Doug said happily. "Looks like Matt's making it to the next round!"

"You know it!" Shade said. "Thanks to my sexy feather lover!"

Otto let out an irritated sigh.

"Seriously," he told her with his patience running thin. "are you two in to each other or not?!"

"I can't believe Matt was the first person to fight." Rachel said, sitting on the couch with Odin in her lap, petting him as he happily napped.

"I agree." Laurence told his mistress, standing behind the couch close to her. Otto let out a defeated sigh. He went unheard.

Again...

"_**You**_ think it'll honestly work?" Hugo asked the man sitting beside him. With a cigarette between his lips, a man in a Team Rocket jacket puffed away, being a higher rank amongst the grunts. It was business hours with half naked woman pleasuring and pleasing the customers. Business as usual.

"I know it will." he told him confidently, glancing down at the briefcase the Sentearo brothers gave Hugo. "Where are the brothers?"

Hugo knew what he meant by 'the brothers' simply because the Sentearo brothers had been a hot topic around the Candy Club. Almost every grunt was whispering about them, saying that they were back in Pewter city to take care of business.

"They're working on the ninjutsu school angle right now."

"What about the tournament?" the grunt asked as he smoked his cigarette.

"They're working that angle too." Hugo enlightened him. The grunt took another drag from his smoke, nodding his head with a chuckle.

"They sound like they're busy." he commented. "Things certainly have been lively lately."

Hugo put his hand on his head, leaning back on the couch he was sitting on. He could almost feel his blood pressure rising as they spoke.

"I just want this bastard to be taken care of." Hugo told him.

Entering the Candy Club was Darrell, silently passing through as 'soothing' music played in the background. He was getting more and more numb to the fact that woman were being taken advantage of sexually, forcing himself to block out the sounds and cries they made, usually from the rough treatment they were undergoing. The moment Hugo saw him he grinned. His face alone made him feel as if his problems would be solved. If Darrell couldn't take care of this Athena's Angel bastard than nobody could.

Darrell approached with he bodyguard not bothering to stop him. He'd seen him enough to know he wasn't going to harm Hugo. Pleased to see him, Hugo was unable to help but smile in his presence.

"I'm glad you could make it." Hugo told him with Darrell having a blank expression plastered on his face. Motioning towards the man in the jacket, Darrell looked over at where Hugo was pointing.

"This is Sunny." Hugo told him. "He's going to help you find this son of a bitch that's been fucking with my investments."

Sunny quickly got up from the couch with his lit cigarette still between his lips. He extended his arm out to Darrell, who in return just stared at it. Darrell looked up at Sunny, looking at his red sunglasses that were meant to look stylish. They looked stupid to Darrell. Cocking his head, Sunny put his arm down, not sure if he should be insulted by Darrell not even attempting to be hospitable.

"Don't take it personally." Hugo told Sunny. "He's just as pissed as I am right now about this fucker that killed my investor."

That statement was far from the truth, but naturally Darrell wasn't going to attest it. The more Hugo thought that he was on his side the more his guard would be down and the less suspicious he would be towards him. Sunny acted like he did care, shrugging as he took a drag of his cigarette. Without removing his cigarette from his lips, he let out a puff of smoke.

"It's not like I give a damn about what he thinks." Sunny said with a chuckled, making Hugo a little uncomfortable by the glare Darrell was putting on the grunt in the red shades. Hugo cleared his throat, trying to change the subject and quickly defuse the tension that he felt was building in the air.

"Sunny here says he has a plan on taking out this Athena's Angel guy."

Darrell raised his eyebrow, curious as to what the plan might be. He hadn't said a word since he left the suite. Sunny ashed his cigarette in the ashtray on the small table near the couch, looking at Darrell the entire time, who in return was still eying him down.

"I'm getting some boys and we're meeting up at a sushi place. We're going to bait this guy into coming and when he does-"

Sunny made his hand into the shape of a handgun, making it 'shoot'. Darrell smirked, then started to laugh as if he'd been told the funniest damn joke he'd ever been told before. Not seeing what was so funny, Sunny glared at him.

"You really think some trained killer is going to be dumb enough to be baited into being ambushed like that?" Darrell questioned. Sunny smiled.

"Of course he would." he told him. "If he didn't we'd kill Athena."

Darrell stopped laughing suddenly, looking at Sunny in a whole new light.

"Not a bad plan, if I do say so myself." Hugo commented with Darrell still looking at Sunny as if in shock. "We already informed Athena that she's dead unless she tells her little 'Angel' to meet at the Lee's Sushi Palace at seven tonight."

Sunny ashed his cigarette once again, checking the clock on the wall, having a picture of a naked woman in the center of it. It was nearing six.

"I better get set up with the boys." Sunny said, making his way towards the exit of the Candy Club. Before passing Darrell, he gave him a smirk.

"Let's make sure me greet this guy properly." he told him, completely oblivious to Darrell's true alignment of the situation. "And make sure you make it on time. You wouldn't wanna miss me blowing this guy's brains out."

Sunny let out a dark chuckle, continuing his way towards the exit of the Candy Club. Darrell stood there with Hugo sitting on the couch with a pleased grin.

"I have a feeling things are going to work out." he said, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. Darrell just nodded along, suddenly turning around without warning. Unsure as to where he was going, Hugo looked confused.

"Where are you headed?" Hugo asked him. "You going over to the Sushi place with Sunny?"

"I need to make sure I'm prepared first." Darrell said, with his context being vague. Hugo was pleased to know, or so he thought, that Darrell was getting ready to kill Athena's Angel.

In reality, Darrell had other plans in mind...

_**Meticulously**_ counting his money, the man sitting at the counter of the pawn shop was sorting out his bills. He placed them in different piles as he listened to music being played throughout his store. The store itself had pretty much everything you'd expect a pawnshop to have: a crap ton of junk that was overpriced and certainly questionable. In the corner he had a drum set that had scratches on the side of it that he tried to cover up with nail polish and had rows upon rows of random junk in bins.

The glass case that made the counter had jewelry within it, most of which was sold to him by members of Team Rocket who 'found' them. The owner of the pawn shop never asked questions, not wanting to know where his items came from. His only concern was making a living. And honestly, that was all that mattered to him.

Hearing a jingle come from the bell on the glass door, reenforced with metal bars, the owner continued to count out his Tabs, making sure all of his money was in check. It was his forth time counting out what he had, wanting to be sure that he was positive of his profits. Business had been a little slow, but he was still in the black. Once again, that was all that really mattered.

He could hear soft footsteps coming his way, not bothering to look up. The footsteps stopped, being heard come from right in front of the counter. The owner was busy counting his money, far too busy to care.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked with a lack of enthusiasm.

"It's been a while, Weasel."

The owner stopped counting his money, frozen still. He looked up, seeing a face he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Darrell?..." he said surprised. Darrell reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of cash and a small piece of paper with a list of things he needed.

"I need some stuff." he told him. "Stuff that only you have."

Weasel looked at Darrell suspiciously.

"I haven't seen you for a few years." he told him. "I'm honestly still surprised to see you still alive."

Weasel looked at the list Darrell had given him, pulling his head back in surprise. He then looked at the sum on money he was being presented.

"You're joking, right?"

Darrell shook his head. Weasel narrowed his eyes as Darrell unamused.

"For what you're asking this is only a fraction of the cost." Weasel told him. Darrell stared him down with the cold look of a killer.

"Might I remind you of that favor you asked me to take care of years ago before you even owned this shop?" Darrell reminded him. Weasel closed his eyes, biting his lower lip. Darrell had him by the balls, remembering what he had tried to forget.

"Without my help you wouldn't be breathing right now." Darrell told him bluntly. Weasel let out a loud sigh, standing up from the stool he was sitting on and taking another look at the list. He shook his head, giving Darrell an irritated look.

"This is fucking bullshit..." he grumbled. "But fine. I'll get you what you need."

_**Being**_ 6:45, Emie happily exited the elevator and walked out onto the forth floor. It had been a long day of training with master Nagato letting her go early, saying he wanted her to get plenty of rest for the next day. She approached the suite room, reaching out to open the door.

Before she could, the door opened by it's own. On the other side was Darrell, exiting out with a black duffel back, looking band new. Emie blinked, making eye contact with him for only a mere few seconds. He had little emotion on his face, leaving the door open for her.

Inside the room, Emie saw Matt, Sissy, Bomber, and the rest of the group inside.

"What the hell was that about?" Matt asked, confused what Darrell meant when he said he had to pick up a few things. Doug, who was sitting on the couch, leaned forward, shook his head with a worried expression.

"I have no idea..." he told him, though knew something wasn't right.

Laurence looked to the side of the room, avoiding eye contact with everyone, trying to hide the fact that he was displeased with everything Darrell had been up to lately, whatever it might be. He too knew something was wrong, but wasn't going to express his displeasure. Instead he held his tongue.

Matt looked over to the doorway, seeing Emie run inside, jumping into his arms and giving him a huge hug.

"Meowth!" she said excited, not having her talker collar on. Matt laughed, hugging her back with everyone talking amongst themselves in the suite, still wondering what the hell was up with Darrell. Sissy was in her anthropomorphic form with her yukata on, standing beside Matt with a smile.

"She certainly seems happy to see you." Sissy laughed, not feeling even slightly upset with Emie being so huggy with Matt.

Rachel glanced outside the window where she was now standing once again, this time however without Odin in her arms. Clara and Odin were playing on the floor, trying to involve Aurora, who in return did her best to ignore them, scribbling in her coloring book.

"You did amazing, sexy!" Shade told Bomber, hugging him around the neck. He let out a chuckle with Otto glaring angrily in their direction.

"I take it you two aren't going to clarify on your standings with each other..." he said, going unheard like he usually was.

Emie let go of Matt, smiling happily at him.

"Meow-murowth?" she asked him. He looked over to Sissy, waiting for her to translate.

"She's asking how we did today in the tournament." Sissy told him. Matt looked over at Emie with a happy grin.

"Sissy kicked major butt with Bomber finishing things off. We're going to the next round."

Emie's face lit up with excitement, looking over to Sissy happily. She suddenly lunged out, hugging Sissy like they were close friends. Sissy awkwardly hugged her back as Emie happily laughed.

While this was all taking place, Doug stared down at the floor with a lost look in his eyes.

"What the hell are you getting yourself into, Darrell?" he mumbled to himself.

_**The**_ place was empty, with the grunts making sure everyone was out of Lee's Sushi Palace. There were a large number of them all around the place with Sunny standing near one of the many tables that were on the base floor. The Sushi place was large with the base floor having plenty of tables with grunts standing around with guns in hand. In the back, being the northern wall of the place, was a bar with a few grunts sitting on the stools, though didn't dare drink anything in fear of being caught with their pants down. They knew they were going up against a deadly foe, not wanting to take _any_ chances.

On the east and west walls were staircases leading towards the southern wall. On the southern wall was an upper floor with a simple railing made of wood that, if one were to look over the railing, would see the lower floor of the sushi place. The only thing on the upper floor were more tables, but was intended for the more valued customers with more money burning a hole in their pockets. Some of the grunts were hanging out up there, leaned up against the railing, occasionally looking at the paper lanterns that hung from the roof that lit the place, reinforced with metal frames and bolted to the ceiling with large metal chain.

Having two swing open doors that led into the kitchen on the northern wall, slightly to the right of the bar table that was shoved up against the northwest corner of the Sushi place, more grunts were waiting inside, making sure nobody came in the back of the place through the kitchen door that led out back into an alleyway.

Sunny was smoking another cigarette, holding a revolver in his hand with a katana hung on his back. Team Rocket's origin was strongly influenced by Japanese culture with the higher ups having them to show their status in the organization, just like knowing how to speak the Japanese language. Sunny knew how to use his sword, however, it was more for show. The only reason he chose to wear it then was to intimidate whoever this "Athena's Angel" person was.

Still with his red shades on, he pulled the cigarette from between his lips, ashing it on the floor carelessly. One of the grunts near him holding a simple handgun nervously looked over to him, being a little rattled. He watched Sunny put his cigarette back between his lips, not even showing a fragment of fear or terror.

"What if he doesn't come?" the grunt asked, more out of wishful thinking than rationality.

"He will." Sunny told him, followed by a drag of his smoke. "If that woman means anything to him, he will."

He spun the revolver on his finger, acting like he didn't have a care in the world.

A silence overcame the sushi place with the grunts quietly talking amongst them.

The grunt near Sunny was growing restless.

"Are you sure we can handle this?" he asked sounding scared. Sunny started chuckling.

"There's thirty of us and only one of him." Sunny reminded him.

More silence...

The grunt looked over to Sunny once again.

"But what-"

The Sushi Palace door opened with everyone growing still. In came Darrell, trench coat and all. His gray mask was on along with an attachable hood he wore with his coat covering his slicked back hair. The only fiber of his true being that they could see were his dark eyes, showing that he was remaining calm and collected. Not to mention focused on Sunny. He showed no sign of carrying a weapon.

Team Rocket raised their weapons at him, but lowered them when Sunny put his hand up.

"Hold on." he told them. "That isn't any way to treat a guest, is it?"

They all looked at each other, wondering why Sunny wasn't insisting they shoot the masked man on sight. Sunny simply chuckled, sitting on one of the tables as he inhaled his cigarette smoke. He let out the smoke from his lungs, sending a cloud out from his mouth. With a grin, Sunny kept eye contact with Darrell.

"I guess you're really serious about protecting this Athena girl you seem to be so attached too."

Darrell held his ground with his hands by his sides, still as stone. Sunny snapped his fingers. When he did so, two members of Team Rocket slowly approached Darrell with their guns half raised.

"We can go about this one of two ways." Sunny told him. "We can take you into our custody, or we can kill you. What's it gonna be?"

Darrell kept eye contact with Sunny the entire time.

His moves were so fast that only Sunny could focus on what was happening. Darrell swiftly moved his arms into his trench coat, pulling his arms back out just as fast. When he did so, his coat was thrown open. Underneath was some of the highest grade body armor Sunny had ever seen, with the masked man completely covered in it from the neck down. In both hands were two sub machine guns, being Mac10s to be extract, with the stocks up. In the half second that the trench coat was flung open, Sunny saw the masked man's arsenal. On his left side was an AK-47 with a collapsible stock, making it easy to conceal. On his right side was a handgun with a handful of clips beneath it, all attached within the coat.

With his gloved fingers on both triggers of his Mac10s, Darrell unloaded on the two grunts that were trying to approach him, filling them with lead. Their bodies convulsed as bullets ripped into them. They hit the floor with Sunny raising his gun along with all of the other grunts. Men started running out of the kitchen area with guns in their hands, pointing them at Darrell.

"Looks like it's gonna be the hard way!" Sunny hollered.

Gunfire was unloaded in the direction of Darrell, who ran to his right, firing his Mac10s at anyone and everyone. His accuracy wasn't remarkable due to the guns themselves and the fact that he was running to avoid being shot. A stray bullet here and there would pierce into the Team Rocket grunts, killing a small handful with the rest flipping over tables for improvised cover. The grunts upstairs were unable to see what was going on due to Darrell being underneath the overhung level above him.

They saw him the moment he started heading forward in the direction of the eastern stairs. They too began to unload their weapons, firing like crazy to hit him. With his training as a cold blooded killer kicking in, he jumped, placing his right foot against the staircase, pushing off of it to do a flip. In mid air, now flying upside-down, he kept shooting his guns.

A grunt near the bar table took a stray bullet to the face, falling backwards into the wooden bar table and smashing onto the floor right afterward. Darrell landed on his feet, still moving out of the line of fire. He dropped his empty Mac10s on the floor, reaching into his trench coat for his handgun as he made a quick 180, running up the eastern staircase as the bullets continued to fly his way, hitting the wall behind him as he ascended up the stairs as fast as he could.

With his gun now in hand, he aimed it at one of the grunts leaning on the railing of the second floor, being one of six men on the upstairs level. He took a shot, hitting the grunt right in the neck. His 9mm round ripped through the grunt's flesh, sending the poor bastard over the railing with his lifeless body hitting the first floor.

Finally on the second floor, Darrell dove forward in the direction of the southern wall. He flew through the air with his gun held with both hands, popping off a few rounds at a grunt hiding behind a flipped over table, managing to get him in the arm. Two other grunts that were out of cover took bullets to the skulls, falling on their backs dead.

Unable to stop his momentum, Darrell smashed into the southern wall, sliding down it and landing on his left hip with his shoulder up against the wall. Even if he was out of the line of fire from the men downstairs, that wasn't going to stop the three remaining grunts upstairs, which included the grunt he had hit in the arm, from killing him.

A grunt popped out of cover, pointing a shotgun in his direction, however, took four shots to the chest before shooting Darrell. In dying pain, the grunt stumbled forward out of cover, landing on his side with his shotgun blasting from the impact it took from smacking against the floor. Darrell quickly scurried to his feet, only to get shot in the shin by a grunt with a puny 22 caliber handgun.

Darrell fell down on this stomach, squeezing off a few more rounds, hitting the grunt in the inner thigh. The grunt let out a scream of pain, being finished off by a bullet to his chest. Darrell quickly reached into his coat for another clip with a grunt running up the eastern stairs taking a shot at him. Taking aim, Darrell fired multiple times, hearing clicks after the first two shots. The grunt was killed nonetheless, being hit in the heart and gut. Darrell had his next ammunition clip still clenched in his other hand as the grunt he had just killed fell backwards, tumbling down the stairs like a bag of rocks.

With his empty clip landing on the floor next to his face, still on his stomach, Darrell reloaded his gun. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the grunt he had previously hit in the arm fall forward, accidentally stumbling from the pain with the table he was leaned up against unable to support his weight, falling over upside-down with it's legs now sticking up. Now with a clear shot, Darrell fired only once, getting the grunt in the left eye. A trail of blood followed out the back of the grunts skull after the bullet with bone fragments flew out the back along with his brains.

Even if they couldn't see him, gunfire was still being directed at the second floor with the occasional bullet tearing through the wooden floor. Darrell quickly scrambled forward on his hands and knees with his pistol still in his grasp. He got to a table that was yet to be flipped, knocking it over to it's side and pushing it up against the railing that stood above the Sushi Palace.

Relentless gunfire continued, now aimed at the table Darrell had pushed up against the railing. He reached inside his trench coat, dropping his pistol and pulling out his AK-47. Even if it would be unseen behind his mask, Darrell bared his teeth, snapping the stock in place, pulling back the spring, and cocking his rifle as he had his back up against the table.

He popped up from cover, pointing his AK-47 at his targers, firing in small bursts. His accuracy was deadly as hell, shooting grunt after grunt. Even those who tried to hide behind cover of the tables in the Sushi palace were still killed, having the AK-47 bullets ripping through the wood and into their flesh. Darrell ducked down behind cover again as a bullet came near to capping him in the dome.

Letting the clip drop to the floor, he reloaded, hearing Sunny downstairs swear loudly.

"Quit standing around like idiots and flank this son of a bitch!" he ordered. Darrell popped his head out again, noticing three grunts making their way to the western staircase and two grunts making their way to the eastern staircases. Darrell quickly took aim to his left, shooting in the direction of the grunts running for the western staircase. He started unloading, not bothering to regulate his shots. The first two grunts hit the dust before they even made it to the fourth step with the last grunt only making it up two steps before receiving a hail bullet shot through his torso.

Darrell snapped around, shooting at the other two grunts trying to come up the stairs. He fired a few shots, soon forced to duck behind the table he was taking cover behind that was pushed up against the railing when they started firing back, one was using an Uzi and the other using a . A sting of pain was felt in Darrell's right arm, getting hit by the 45. Even while wearing armor, it wasn't a feeling he enjoyed. Angered, he pulled out of cover, shooting like a mad man at both of them.

With the grunt using an Uzi getting shot in the forehead and tumbling on his face into the stairs, the other grunt was in tact. Darrell's gun clicked with him swearing under his breath. He tossed it down on the floor, quickly reaching for his handgun inside his coat again.

Right as he pulled it out, the grunt with the 45 had made it to the second floor, shooting Darrell square in the chest. He fell backwards with a loud grunt of pain. With his 9 millimeter in his hand, Darrell took aim, firing a few shots into the grunts head. Blood splattered against the wall behind him with his limp body plummeting to the wooden floor that was now riddled with bullet casings.

Sunny looked around him, seeing that only five of his original forty were remaining. He saw Darrell standing near the table that had been pushed up against the railing, now on his feet again. Sunny took a shot at him, missing by a few feet with Darrell hiding back behind cover.

"Fuck this," Sunny snarled, "finish him off already!"

Darrell peaked around the corner, seeing Sunny run for the kitchen. Before entering, he shot another bullet towards Darrell, this time nearly hitting him. Darrell dropped his current ammunition magazine, reaching for another in his trench coat. He closed his eyes, hearing the sounds of gunfire directed towards him as he hid behind the flipped over table. He reloaded his gun with his other mag bouncing off the floor and landing on it's side.

With a burst of adrenaline, Darrell moved out of cover, leaping up on the railing, followed by another jump. The grunts watched as he flew through the air, grappling onto one of the lanterns that lit the place. He swung on it, taking aim and shooting one of the grunts below him.

The bullet he fired went through the top of one of the grunt's skulls, leaving a gaping hole in his head. Darrell fired again as he swung back and forth on the hanging lantern, hitting another grunt, getting him in the gut a few times. Darrell let go of the lantern, falling towards the first floor as the gunfire continued. He landed with a roll, bashing into a table and knocking it over on it's side. Clenching his eyes closed in pain, he could hear bullets tearing into the flimsy wooden table he was taking cover behind. Darrell fired blindly over the table until his gun was dry, hearing one of the grunts let out a cry of pain, followed by the sound of hitting the floor. Without intending on it, he had shot one of them in the groin, killing them from the intense pain.

With only two guys left, Darrell reloaded his gun, reaching for his last clip that he had. He slid the magazine into his 9mm, taking a deep breathe. Boldly stepping out of cover, Darrell fired at the last two grunts, one being literally five feet away from him with the other being near the bar area.

To Darrell, time slowed down it seemed. Each pull of his trigger resulted in a bullet entering into the grunt nearest him with blood spurting out of their body. They flailed with each shot, dropping their pistol to the floor. With time still at a sluggish pace, Darrell reached for the half dead grunt, pulling him close to his body.

The grunt near the bar started firing a standard Glock, having it on automatic with bullets hailing towards Darrell's direction, only to enter his comrades body. Darrell fired his gun over the shoulder of the human shield he was using, hitting the grunt near the bar in the throat. His body hit the floor with Darrell letting go of his human shield, with him too hitting the floor. Time sped back up to normal with Darrell sprinting for the kitchen doors.

He plowed his way into the kitchen, having a bullet whiz past his face. He stumbled, hiding behind one of the stove counters that took up the center of the room. Sunny fired another shot at Darrell, who in return started firing blindly back at him. Sunny swore, quickly running out the back door that led into the alley. Darrell got up from behind the counter, chasing after him.

Darrell bashed his way out of the door, looking to his right to left to see Sunny running like hell. Before taking a turn around a corner, he fired at Darrell, missing barely. Darrell was only able to fire a single round back at him before he vanished behind the corner. He started to run after him with the rain outside still down pouring.

Following suit, Darrell took the same turn Sunny did, seeing him run out into the main street of the downtown district. Darrell fired at Sunny, who took another turn, this time towards the right, sprinting out into the main street.

Darrell followed him, now into the open street with the rain coming down like mad. Sunny spun around with his revolver pointed in Darrell's direction. He pulled the trigger.

His gun clicked.

Sunny looked at his gun in horror, still pulling the trigger as if to expect a different result. He shook his head in a panic, falling backwards onto the muddy street. Darrell slowly stepped forward in his direction. Sunny threw down his gun, reaching for his katana that he had hung on his back. He unsheathed it, only to have Darrell kick his wrist, sending it spinning, sticking into the muddy street a few feet away from them both.

The two of them were motionless with the rain coming down. Sunny stared at the hooded man in the black trench coat and gray mask. Like a helpless child, Sunny watched as Darrell put the gun in his face. Sunny just stared at him, not sure what to say.

"I guess this is how it ends for me..." Sunny told him. Darrell was silent, still with his gun in Sunny's face. The street was completely empty. There were no witnesses in this baron part of the downtown district. They were either all instructed to stay away from that area or were hiding from the gunfire that had been heard coming from inside Lee's Sushi Palace. Sunny suddenly had a weak smile grow on his face.

"That girl must really mean a lot to you." he told him honestly. "I know it probably means nothing to you since this is coming from me, but I hope things work out for you."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, still sitting on the muddy street.

"Let's get this over with, please."

Sunny could feel the rain hitting his hair and running down his face.

He could also hear the sound of a gun firing next to his ear.

Sunny opened his eyes, seeing the masked man's gun smoking. Confused, he looked at him with a lost look in his eyes. Darrell pointed at Sunny, then proceeded to make a slicing motion across his own neck. It took Sunny a moment to understand what he meant, finally getting the understanding that he was 'dead'.

Darrell holstered his handgun in his trench coat with Sunny standing up off of the street. He gave the masked man a nod of his head, not sure how to thank him for letting him live.

"I promise you I won't forget your compassion." Sunny promised. Darrell pointed at Sunny's jacket, motioning for him to take it off. He looked at his jacket, then back at the masked man a little vexed.

"You want my jacket?"

Darrell went through than hand motions again, with Sunny finally understanding why.

"Ah, I see." he told him. "You want my jacket for one of the dead bodies so it looks like I _actually_ died. You're not dumb. Just make sure to make it convincing. I really don't want Team Rocket hunting me down after somehow figuring out I went awol."

Darrell nodded, as if to assure him he'd make sure they wouldn't know the difference. Sunny unzipped his jacket, taking it off and handing it over to Darrell, also giving him his sheath for his katana.

"It's not like I'll be needing that either." he told him, looking over at his sword stuck in the street. He turned around and started walking away in the rain. After a few steps, he stopped, turning around to face Darrell, getting one good last look at the man in the mask.

"You know," he told Darrell with a faint smirk. "I feel sorry for Hugo." Sunny turned back around, heading on his way, knowing that he had to start his life all over again, leaving Darrell standing there in the rain with his jacket. He turned his head, looking at Sunny's katana.

_**After**_ lobbing off the head of one of the grunts with the katana, Darrell put Sunny's jacket on the decapitated. He had thrown the head in a dumpster, feeling sorry for anyone that found it. In addition, he placed Sunny's revolver in the grunts hand. Written in blood on the wall near the kitchen entrance read **Athena's Angel**, just as it did the last time.

Darrell lowered himself down, about to leave Sunny's Katana with the dead body. Before he did however, he looked at it, pondering about abandoning it as well. It wasn't like the dead guy was going to want it. Besides, Darrell thought to himself, he might as well keep it as a piece of memorabilia. It was a nice sword and felt wrong to just throw away with a dead body.

Darrell exited the Sushi palace, looking both ways as he left, still in his mask and trench coat. He made his way quickly into an alley where he had gotten changed into his gear. It took him a solid ten minutes just to get out of everything and back into his normal clothes. Having his AK-47, 2 Mac10s, handgun, body armor, mask, trench coat, hood, combat knife, and katana inside the large black duffel bag Weasel had gave him, he threw it over his shoulder and exited out the alley.

He walked the streets as the rain continued to fall. With a single hand, he slicked his hair back again, causally walking away from the sense of the slaughter.

Nobody even noticed him leaving as people started investigating what had happened.


	61. Chapter 61

_**Chapter 61**_

_**Hugo**_ stood before all of the dead bodies that lay on the floor, the entire time listening to some of the grunts that had arrived late to the scene talking to each other. Lee's Sushi Place had been totally destroyed with blood splattered on the walls and soaked into the wood of the floors. It was impossible to walk through the place without getting bllod on the bottoms of anyone's shoes.

"You think one guy really did this, boss?" one of the grunts asked Hugo as he stood over the body of what he believed to be Sunny, who's head was missing along with his katana. The grunt stared at Hugo's bulky back, wondering if he had even heard him. "Um...boss?"

Hugo's fists clenched so tight that his knuckles began to crack, making the grunt fearfully back away from his boss. Swinging around, Hugo let out a yell, kicking one of his dead grunts.

"Do I look like I'm fucking okay!" he screamed. "All of these men are dead because of that Athena's Angel fucker!"

The grunt fell backwards over a dead body, catching himself with his hands. He felt blood agasint his palms. It was slippery and unnerving. Almost as unnerving as seeing his boss fly into a rage. The other grunts that had come too late watched as Hugo let out another loud yell.

"Do you realize what this is going to cost?!" Hugo roared. "All the money I spend on bribing the authorities! All the dead men I have to bury! And this fucker is still on the loose!"

"What about Darrell?" A grunt pipped in. "What happened to him?"

Hugo threw his hands in the air.

"Knowing my god damn luck he's lying in the pile of bodies we're walking over!" Hugo yelled.

At that instant, his phone began to ring. Hugo reached in his pocket, pulling it out and looking at the caller ID. He let out a sigh of relief to see that it was Darrell. Hugo answered the call, putting his phone up to his ear.

"Please tell me you're not the only one still alive."

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone.

"I got so close to catching him," Darrell lied, "but he ran so damn fast I could hardly stay behind him. I lost him out on the streets."

"It's okay." Hugo told him, slightly feeling better now that he knew Darrell was still among the living. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"Not really." Darrell vaguely responded on the other end. "I think he was hiding his face."

Hugo swore under his breath, gripping his phone tighter. Any tighter he would have broke it in two.

"I'll call you when I need you again." Hugo told him. "Right now I've got a mess to clean."

He hung up his phone, suddenly throwing it up against the wall near the bar area of the Sushi place. The only reason it didn't break was because it hit a body that was halfway on the bar counter, with blood dripping from the once-living persons hand.

"_**Got**_ any fours?" Shade asked, sitting on the floor with Emie and Sissy, with the three of them playing "Go Fish". Bomber was sitting behind the couch next to them, although was too busy playing with Clara and Odin, who proceeded to run around him and occasionally climb him like a jungle gym. Rachel, Otto, and Matt were sitting on the couch, watching TV, chatting idly to each other every time it would go to commercial. In the kitchen area was Laurence, who was sitting at the fold out table reading a book with Aurora drawing in her coloring book across from him. Darrell still hadn't come back yet, leaving Doug to worry as he sat alone in his room. He had lied to everyone, saying he was going to bed early. It was better than telling them that he was panicking about his friend and what might really be going on.

And of course, it was still raining like mad outside...

Emie shook her head at Shade, making her sigh.

"Dammit..." Shade grumbled, reaching for the stack of cards and pulling out another. "I hate this stupid game."

Sissy peaked over at Emie's cards, who didn't notice she was doing so, too busy laughing at Shade. In Emie's hands were three 4's, three, 7's and two 9's. Sissy looked at Emie, who soon realized that Sissy saw what she had. She leaned back with her tail flicking from one side of the floor to the other.

"Hey!" Emie said with a playful laugh, not taking the game even remotely serious. "Sissy's being a cheaty!"

"A 'cheaty', huh?" Sissy said with a smirk, quickly grabbing her cards. She tossed them down on the floor face up with Shade seeing them as well. "Says the person who's been hording all of their cards."

Emie started laughing adorably after being caught red handed, making Matt, who was still sitting on the couch with Rachel and Otto, faintly smile. It was good to have an atmosphere free of animosity. For the most part at least.

"You dork!" Shade snarled, being a mixture of irritation and playfulness. "I asked for all those cards! Twice!"

"Play nice." Rachel chuckled with her legs crossed on the couch. She adjusted in her seat, glancing over at Otto to find him slightly hunched forward on the other end of the couch. He had his fried game console in his lap and a screw driver in his hand. "What are you trying to do with that thing? It's shot to hell."

Otto pushed back his glasses on the bridge of his nose, carefully working at his machine.

"I wouldn't doubt his ability, Rachel." Matt told her with the sounds of Emie's laughter still in the background. "He's fixed worse."

"Like the VCR I turned into a DVD player." Otto said, still with his eyes on his work.

"And that motorcycle that was missing almost it's entire frame." Matt added.

"Then there was the-"

"Okay," Rachel said with a groan, cutting Otto off. "I get it, I get it. You're a super geek with too much time on your hands."

Matt looked into Rachel's eyes, starting to smile deviously. Needless to say, the look took her back a bit. Her comfort zone felt like it was being invaded the longer he grinned at her with his eyes squinting.

"Let's not forget about Stalin." Matt told her with a dark chuckle. Otto looked up at Matt, looking a little surprised that he would bring up such a topic. Bomber, who had Clara hanging on his neck and Odin on his head, looked around towards the three of them on the couch, still with Emie, Shade, and Sissy on the floor conversing. Emie was still laughing, now with tears in her eyes from how 'stooopid' 'Shade-Shade' was.

"Who's Stalin?" Bomber asked.

"Pika Pika!" Clara giggled, holding onto Bomber's neck with her stubby arms.

"Shut up, Matt." Rachel told him with an odd, awkward tone Bomber had never heard her speak in before. Matt wasn't letting up.

"Let's just say it was the most expressive thing I had fixed for her when we were still dating years ago. You wouldn't believe how awkward it was to ask Otto to touch that thing."

"Fix _what_ for her?" Bomber asked very confused. Rachel could feel herself getting even more uncomfortable.

"Seriously, Matt," she told him getting embarrassed. "shut the hell up. It's nothing, Bomber."

Matt started laughing.

"I was unaware you thought twelve inches was nothing." Matt heckled. Rachel's face grew red with her crossing her arms. It was hard for Otto to keep a straight face when Matt started making a buzzing noise with his mouth, making Rachel even more uncomfortable.

Bomber shook his head with Clara still hung onto him.

"I'm lost..." he admitted.

On the other side of the suite in the kitchen area, Laurence was still reading with some tea in front him. Aurora was scribbling all over the page she was on in her coloring book, running over the lines and occasionally hitting the table with her crayon. He glanced up from the text of his book, seeing the silver haired little Dratini girl holding her crayon with a first.

"That's a very lovely picture you're coloring." Laurence told her supportive of her endeavor. "A good artist can learn to draw within the lines, but only a great artist knows to draw outside of them."

Aurora didn't look up at him, still coloring the picture of a banana. Orange of all colors.

Emie was still laughing her head off.

"Emie is the best at fishing!" she said still laughing.

"No," Shade told her with a shake of her head. "you're good at cheating."

Emie's laughing suddenly stopped with her eyes widening. It was so sudden it made Sissy and Shade a little worried.

"Are you okay, Emie?" Sissy asked her. Her head snapped in the direction of Sissy, making her pull her head back from surprise.

"Emie thinks we should go swimming!" she nearly yelled.

Everyone in the suite stopped what they were doing, looking around in the direction towards Emie. It was such a random request that it was a little odd. Even for Emie.

"Fishing for 'Go' makes Emie wanna swim!" She said still looking at Sissy. Emie grabbed her hand, jumping up from the floor, nearly pulling Sissy's arm out of socket as she charged for the door. Sissy was pulled behind her as she was forced to stand up and try to follow Emie.

"Hold on a second!" Sissy told her. "First of all, it's late."

Emie, who was still pulling on Sissy's arm, looked at her with her ears folding back.

"But...swimming..." she said sounding hurt.

"I'm not even sure there _is_ a pool here." Shade said to Emie, still sitting on the floor as she watched Emie start to pout. Sissy's arm was still in Emie's grasp, awkwardly not pulling it away from her. She didn't want to be mean, even if that meant she was going to have her arm taken hostage.

"Actually," Otto said still sitting on the couch. "there's a pool here that's open 24 hours on the bottom floor. It's not to far from the music room, I think."

"Music room?" Matt said at a loss. "Jesus, how many rooms does the Pokemon center have?"

Sissy let out a sigh, still with Emie pouting. At that time, the suite door opened up with Darrell entering in his regular attire with a large duffel bag hung over his back.

"Even if there is a pool," Sissy told her, trying to make her think realistically. "we don't have swim suits."

"But..." Emie started to sniffle, not even caring that Darrell had come back. "_Swimmmmmmiiiiiiing!_"

Tears started to swell in her eyes with Matt standing up.

"Hey Darrell." he greeted him. Darrell gave him a head nod, mostly focused on Emie's pouting.

"What's going on?" he asked, adjusting the duffel bag. Aurora glanced over, seeing Darrell. She wasn't nessisarily pleased to see him, but for a split second it was almost like she was a little more happy. But only for a second. She soon went back to coloring. Laurence on the other hand just glared at him.

"Emie wants to go swimming," Shade explained. "but we don't have swim suits. Well, _they_ don't. I can just make one for myself, being a ghost and whatnot."

Shade's purple shirt and jean short shorts outfit began to change with a glow, suddenly wearing a two piece swim suit, also being purple. And slightly revealing.

Darrell thought about it, trying to remember Doug and his outfits.

"I think Doug and I might actually have some." he said. "I don't know if we still-"

Doug and Darrell's bedroom door opened with Darrell rushing out of it the moment he heard his voice. He was still in his regular clothes with his lie of going to bed early thinning by how quick he was on his feet. A person who would have just woke up wouldn't have been so swift. Doug quickly came over to Darrell, giving him a worried hug.

Darrell was confused as to why Doug was acting so odd, not sure what to say. He hugged him back finally with an unsure frown. Doug moved his head closer to Darrell's ear, trying to whisper something. To everyone else it looked like he was going in for some sort of kiss.

"What the hell are you getting yourself into?" Doug asked him. Still hugging each other, Darrell could see the worry in Doug's eyes. He knew that Doug wasn't stupid. He'd known Darrell long enough to know when he was lying about things. They finally stopped hugging with Darrell quickly changing the subject.

"We've still go swimsuits, right?" he asked Doug. For such a random question after worrying about his best friend ever since he had left, Doug looked at Darrell, shaking his head slightly.

"Huh?"

"Swimsuits." Darrell repeated. "We've got them right."

"Well... yeah, I think so. Why are you asking?"

Emie started jumping up and down, still gripped onto Sissy's wrist.

"Swimming!" Emie said impatiently. "Emie wants to go swimming!"

Doug glanced over at the stove clock, seeing that it was 8pm.

"At this hour?" he questioned. Emie nodded her head with her ears perked back up.

Doug shrugged, looking over at Matt, Rachel, and Otto.

"If I've got the swimsuits for you guys," he told them, "you're more than welcome to have them. It's up to you though if you really want to go swimming this late at night."

Everyone looked at each other, with Rachel actually being the first to say something.

"No offense," she told them, "but count me out."

Laurence didn't bother to lower his book, but he too spoke up soon after.

"I'll choose to stay with my mistress." he said, momentarily glancing up towards Darrell with a scowl. There was no way in hell he was letting him and her be near each other. Not when he reeked of death and murder like he did then.

Matt looked around at everyone, seeing that there really weren't many who seemed willing to go.

"Okay, so Rachel and Laurence are staying here I guess." Matt thought aloud. "Who else doesn't feel like going?"

"If you don't mind," Bomber said to him. "I'm actually a little tired. Besides, swimming and I have never really gotten along thanks to Cerulean."

"What?" Matt questioned, staring at his Pidgeotto confused. Bomber let out a sigh and shook his large head, finally with Clara letting go, landing on her backside on the floor. She let out a 'pika' of joy.

"Some backwater idiots thought I was a duck and started shooting at me when I was traveling through Kanto." Bomber explained. "I freaking hate that place..."

"You've been to Cerulean?" Otto asked.

"Who else isn't going?" Matt asked, completely ignoring Otto, who in return let out a sigh of defeat. Nothing seemed to change, especially when it came to being ignored.

"I've had a long day." Darrell told them. "Assuming I was invited in the first place, thank you by the way, I'd rather catch up on some sleep."

"_Bullshit._" Laurence said in Japanese. Darrell chose to ignore his derogatory remark.

"Same." Doug said, looking a Darrell. He wasn't planning on letting Darrell sleep until he got some answers. The way he was acting suggested to Shade a romance that wasn't really there. "I'll loan you the suits though."

"Okay," Matt said with a hand up. "Raise your hand if you're going to go swim."

Matt stood there with his hand raised, soon with Emie raising hers with a giant grin on her face. Shade shrugged, raising her hand as well.

"Shit," she said, still in her swimsuit she had put on. "I'm already dressed for it, so why not?"

Otto, still with his game console in his lap, thought about it, finally nodding his head after a while. He raised his hand up.

"I don't see why not." he said. "Sounds like fun."

He lifted his head a little, unable to see Clara behind the couch next to Bomber.

"What about you Clara?" he asked her. "Do you wanna go swimming?"

Otto saw his Pikachu leap up from the other side of the couch, climbing over it and rushing towards him on all fours. She stopped in front of him, still with his green bandana around her neck.

"Pika!" she said with her eyes positivity radiating with excitement.

"I'll take that as a yes." he laughed, rubbing her head with his hand. Her ears folded back slightly as she closed her eyes and gave a happy little smile.

"Alright," Matt said doing inventory on everybody who wanted to swim.

"For those who want to swim we have Emie, Otto, Clara, Shade, and myself. Anybody else?"

Emie looked Sissy, still holding onto her arm.

"Sissy should come swim too!" Emie said. Sissy shyly looked away as if trying to hide something.

"I'm not sure." she said with a hushed tone. "I'm not much of a swimmer..."

Emie started laughing, getting behind Sissy suddenly grabbing onto her other arm. She started swinging them up and down in a paddle like motion. Emie was so close to her she had her breasts pressed up against Sissy's back. Sissy felt so embarrassed that she couldn't look Matt or anyone else for that matter in the eye.

"But it's so easy!" Emie told her. "Sissy just has to move Sissy's arms back and forth! Emie can show Sissy because Emie is her friend!"

Being called a friend made Sissy feel slightly flattered. Still, it didn't ease the fact that Emie was waving Sissy's arms like she were trying to teach her to fly. It was definitely a sight to see, with Matt holding back laughter.

"So that makes six of us." Matt said. He cocked his head to get a better view of Aurora who was sitting at the kitchen fold out table with her back facing him. "Would you like to come too, Aurora?"

She didn't respond, violently drawing over the picture of the banana still. After a few seconds of no response, it was clear she wanted nothing to do with swimming. Or Matt. Or anyone else for that matter. She just wanted to color in her coloring book she had been given at the waffle house.

"I guess that's a no." Matt told himself. Doug took one last glance at Darrell before disappearing into their room for their costume duffel bag. He came back shortly after with a few articles of clothing at his disposal.

"Hopefully these are all the right sizes." Doug said with Matt walking over to him. There were four swimsuits, one for Matt, Otto, Sissy, and Emie. Considering Shade already had a bathing suit and Clara didn't need one, it was enough. There were two swim trunks: one was a crimson color with the other being a bright orange. Matt took the crimson one with Otto shaking his head amused.

"Should have figured you'd stay true to yourself." Otto told him, looking at Matt's attire.

"Damn right, I do." he told him. "Crimson's the only way to go."

With everything going on at once, with Emie still flapping Sissy's arms, the television still on, and the general social conversing happening at the time, nobody noticed Shade turn her head in the direction of the reader, soon shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Stop breaking the forth wall!" Rachel shouted. It made Shade tense up, quickly turning her head. To her surprise, Rachel wasn't speaking to her at all, instead, watching TV.

"This stupid show keeps breaking the stupid forth wall with the viewer." Rachel grumbled. "It's so unprofessional!"

Matt took the two piece swim suits, one being a jet black and the other being a white cream color, walking them over to Sissy and Emie. Emie let go of Sissy, grabbing the black one, but had it taken back from Matt.

"No, no." he told her. "this one's for Sissy."

Emie, more confused than she was hurt that Matt had taken away the swimsuit, looked at him with her mouth barely open with probably the most vexed expression he'd ever saw her have before.

"Emie doesn't understand why Emie can't wear the black one..." she told him. Matt awkwardly coughed, setting down his swim trucks on the back of the couch so he could use to hands to compare the top pieces of the females swimsuits. The black top was clearly smaller than the white one. With Sissy being a small B/ large A cup and Emie obviously being a larger C cup, the comparison should have been self explanatory. However, Emie was never known to be one to put the obvious together. She looked at the tops, furrowing her brow more and more as she stared. Sissy finally let out a defeated sigh with the blunt facts depressing her.

"I have smaller breasts than you do, Emie." she explained, making Matt feel a little sad for Sissy having to admit this, in front of everyone no less. Talk about rubbing salt in an open wound. Emie too suddenly realized that it was a harsh topic with her ears folding back.

"Ooooh..." she said with her voice fading away as she spoke, nearly turning into a squeak at the end of it. With her ears still folded back, she looked at Sissy with a lowered head as if she had done something wrong to her new friend.

"Emie is sorry Sissy has small boobies..." Emie apologized.

Shade could be heard letting out snort from holding back, almost hunched over from the pain of holding back from bursting out with hysterical laughter.

"It's okay, Emie." Sissy told her. Emie suddenly raised her head, forcing herself to smile.

"Even if Sissy has small boobies," she told her. "Sissy is a very nice person."

"Thank you, Emie." Sissy thanked her.

"And is very sexy."

Sissy's face grew a little red behind her fur with her head pulled back. Emie awkwardly avoided eye contact with everyone reminding them all that she played for both teams, in a sense. Bomber turned his head, trying to whistle casually as if he weren't paying attention. Having a beak made it impossible for him to whistle, making him only blowing out air with the occasional squeal of air released from between his beak.

"Um...thank you?" Sissy said as Emie's hands were put together in front of her with her head lowered like a shy child with a crush.

"How about we get changed." Matt said out of nowhere, trying to get rid of the awkward void. As if accidentally throwing more fuel on the awkward fire, Emie reached for her shorts, pulling them down to her ankles. Everybody excluding Laurence, who was too busy reading, Aurora, who was too busy coloring, and Shade, who too busy staring at her hips, looked away of covered their eyes. Bomber put his wing over Odin's face, who was sitting on his head still.

"He meant without doing it publicly, dum dum." Shade laughed. Emie stood there with her shorts still around her ankles.

"Oh..." was all she said, with Sissy secretly taking a peak at Emie's hips to see what they were like. She regretted it when she realized that her own hips weren't much better than hers. She let out another defeated sigh with her self confidence almost completely shattered at that point.

"_**Just**_ for an hour." he told her.

"Fuck you." was her response. "I'm not doing your job."

Standing on the pool rooms stone tile was Amber, glaring at her oldest brother. Unlike Goose, he was built like an oak with a chiseled figure and abs hard as rock. His eyes were a green with a shaved head. He was wearing a life guard outfit with Amber in her regular Pokemon Center nurse outfit.

"Come on, Sis." he told her. "Why do we have to always bump heads?"

"Because," she told him. "you're a damn moron with soup for brains."

"I just wanted to check on that beautiful woman who teaches the yoga class before she's off the clock. Besides, there's nobody really here."

Amber got in her bothers face, even if he was slightly taller than she was.

"First of all," she told him as she poked his chest. "There are too people here."

She motioned in the direction of some young men, all tourists who came to watch the tournament, sitting down at a table near the indoor poolside.

"Second, Samantha thinks you're a creep. And frankly I agree.

"Don't make judgment calls." her brother told her. "I'm better than that Matt guy you've been gawking over."

Amber pushed him in the chest even harder.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amber said defensively. "Matt's a great guy."

Her brother laughed with the sound of somebody jumping in the pool being heard in the background followed by another.

"Yeah," her brother told her. "he's a _real_ gem. He ignored you, promised you a date, then called it off after he started dating somebody else. A _Pokemon_ no less. Fucking disgusting."

"You know what," Amber told her brother. "he's-"

"Just like Dad?" her brother cut her off. Amber wasn't sure what to say, standing there on the tile in front of her brother at a loss for words. Her brother started laughing at her and shaking his head.

"Just accept the fact that that prick doesn't even notice you exist." Her brother told her. Amber didn't know what to say, suddenly turning tail and storming off towards the doors that exited back into the Pokemon Center halls.

"Fuck you, Maverick." she told him. "You and Goose are fucking assholes."

She almost made it to the doors when they suddenly opened. Before her was Otto and Matt in swim trunks with no shirts. Clara was held in his hands. She stopped, not expecting to see Matt come from nowhere.

"Hey," he told her with a smile. "fancy seeing you here."

Amber gave him a weak smile back, soon opening her mouth to say something. She stopped the moment she saw three woman, one being Sissy, the other Emie, and lastly some blonde she had seen following around with him, unsure as to who she was. They were all close to Matt somehow, practically screaming to Amber that she didn't actually matter one way or another. Here were three beautiful woman, half naked and probably willing to do anything for him, and there was _her_.

She lowered her head, holding back from saying anything.

"I gotta go." she told him with her voice sounding a little strange to Matt. It sounded like she was about to cry. "N-nice seeing you, Matt."

She quickly moved past him with her face hidden. Matt tried to say something to her before she ran off, literally running out the doors. He'd never seen her like that before.

"What was wrong with Amber?" Sissy asked concerned.

"I'm not sure..." Matt said just as concerned. "I hope everything's okay."

Emie saw the large pool, distracted by how huge it was. The tile beneath them was made of tan stone, having designs of Pokeball's in certain places. There was a large life guard seat on the side of the room near the middle of the pool where it began to get deeper. The large pool had a shallow end where the stairs that led into it where and progressively got deeper the farther back you went. The deepest part of it was near the very back with the diving board's, one being near the ground level and the other being a solid ten feet up, having a climbable platform that led up to it.

The water had small ripples from the few young adults that were swimming in the deep end. There were bright lights under the water, being on the bottom of the pool floor. Emie felt the urge to sprint for the water, soon breaking from the group in a run towards the water.

Maverick, Amber's brother, saw her running. Even with her breasts bouncing and her bottom of the suit riding up her backside from the long strides, he was unphased by this. If anything he was repulsed.

"No running!" he hollered. Emie tried to stop in mid run, only to flop forward into the shallow part of the pool face first when she tried to stop. There was a loud slapping sound, making the fragment of the crew that was going swimming cringe.

"That didn't sound good..." Sissy commented. Matt looked over at the beefy lifeguard, seeing him glare back at him. Maverick knew Matt from all of the stories Amber told him. Matt however didn't even know the two of them were related. Maverick walked back towards his life guard chair, still glaring at Matt angrily.

"He seems like a charmer..." Shade whispered. "I wonder what the hell his problem is."

"Maybe his balls shrunk up from all the steroids he must be taking." Otto laughed.

Emie, who came back up from the water coughing, but nevertheless had a huge smile on her face.

"Swimming!" she laughed. Otto and Clara made there way towards the water with Shade following in his direction. Matt and Sissy stood there on the tile as they watched them get in the water. Otto took his time with Shade hopping right in. Clara wiggled her way from of his grasp, dropping into the water like a stone. Everyone was a little worried that she might just sink, but she was actually treading water pretty well.

Clara dog paddled with her little arms, giggling as she swam in circles around Shade. Emie was swimming like crazy with Sissy and Matt amused by her antics, even more so by the fact that she kept trying to jump up behind Shade and get on her back, which Shade really didn't mind. She wasn't going to complain about another woman wanting to mount her, whether it be sexual or not.

"Aren't cat's not supposed to like water?" Matt asked Sissy with a chuckle. He and her were making their way towards the edge of the pool with Sissy slowing down the closer they got.

"And dogs are supposed to love water, aren't they..." she said a little unsure. Matt stopped before taking his first step into the water. He looked at her, seeing that she was eying the water a little more tense than she probably should have been as if it were out to get her.

"I thought you wanted to swim..." Matt told her. She looked at him with sad eyes.

"I do," she told him. "it's just... I've always had a fear of large bodies of water."

Matt thought about it, looking at her.

"Is it because you're a fire type?" he asked her. Sissy shrugged her shoulders with her tail seldom moving from one side to the other as she stood there.

"Sort of." she explained to him. "Not to mention I've had a lot of bad experiences swimming."

Matt respectfully nodded his head, understanding that she wasn't comfortable with the idea of taking a dip in the pool, though was curious as to why she had agreed to it in the first place.

"I just wanted to be with you..." she told him shyly, answering the question that he had going through his head. "I knew Emie wanted to go swimming, and it wasn't like she could go by herself."

Matt smiled at Sissy, amused by her honestly. There was the feeling of water being splashed against Matt's back, sending a chill up his spine.

"Are you getting in our what?" Otto hollered. Matt didn't bother to turn around, still smiling at Sissy.

"Keep your trunks on." he hollered back to Otto, though still kept eye contact with Sissy, with her tail starting to wag a little more. She felt him grab her hand softly, with her looking at him a little nervous. "I won't make you go in if you don't want to." he told her.

The longer she looked at him, the more her tail wagged.

"I'll swim if you're swimming with me." she told him confidently.

The two of them stood there, happily staring at each other with Sissy's joy showing by the way her tail continued to wag.

_**A**_ good half hour passed with everyone still swimming. Emie took to water like a fish would. She would go under the water, soaring underneath it like an eel. Shade casually swam, honestly more interested in watching Emie do so. Every time she saw Emie jump up from beneath the water she was secretly wishing for her top for fly off.

Clara kept close to Otto, who was near the shallow end as he floated on his back with his hands behind his head. Not wearing his glasses impaired his vision to the point where it was hard to see more than five feet in front of him- clearly, at least. He thought it was safer to take it easy instead of swimming blind. Clara would climb up on top of his chest as if he were some sort of raft, jumping off of him back into the water. Otto began to wonder if it was such a good idea to let an electric Pokemon swim in water, repressing the urge to vocalize his discomfort of the idea to everyone else. Considering how the lifeguard, who was still glaring at Matt, didn't mind, then there probably wasn't much of an issue.

As for Matt and Sissy, the two of them stuck close to the edge of the shallower end with Sissy gripping for the edge. Matt nearly had to pry her off there every time to get her to swim, assuring her that she would be fine as long as she was with him. She let go once again, floating over to him through the cool water. Matt held her as she came close to him, feeling her wet fur with his hands holding her around the waist under the water.

"See?" he told her playfully nudging his nose against her's. "It's not so bad."

She put her arms around him, holding him close with the water going up to their necks. Matt began to feel a little warmer, suddenly looking around him quickly, expecting to see Otto playing a prank on him. Sissy couldn't understand what Matt was looking for, suddenly with him looking at her with a raised brow.

"Um...did you pee?" he asked her. Sissy's eyes widened with her ears folding back from such a ridiculous question.

"I certainly did not pee!" she told him defensively. Matt almost regretted asking her.

"Then what's-"

Matt suddenly realized that the warmth was literally coming from her. It was like the time they had laid in the same bed with her cuddling up next to him. In fact, this occurrence had happened more than once.

"Wait, why are you getting warm all of a sudden?" he asked her curiously. Sissy's ears were still folded back, avoiding eye contact with Matt.

"It happens to fire types when they're content." she explained.

"'Content?'" Matt repeated. Sissy blushed a little with the sound of Emie splashing Shade being heard behind them.

"It means that I feel...happy and...safe with you." she told him. "And...it..."

"What?" he asked her. She shook her head, not wanting to telling him. "Come on, you can tell me, Sissy."

Her ears were still completely folded back with her unable to look him in the eye. Her face was getting even redder behind her dark orange fur.

"It sometimes means I'm...excited...a lot..."

Matt stared at her with Sissy unable to look at him as the two of them continued to embrace in the water.

"Wait a minute, are you...like, wet?" he asked her with an awkward chuckle. One of Sissy's ears slightly came back up, soon with her looking him in the eye finally with a very confused look.

"Of course I am." she told him. "I'm up to my neck in a pool of water."

Matt started to laugh, shaking his head.

"No, no," he clarified. "I mean are you...you know...turned on?"

Sissy's ear instantly joined the other in a folded back position again, looking down at the water. She was now more embarrassed than she was before.

"...I might be..." she admitted to him. Matt looked at her with his thoughts taking him back. There had been so many times when she had gotten warm like that. He had just thought that she was in need of fresh air or something.

"Well that's informing." he joked. Sissy shook her head.

"It's not _all_ the time I get warmer." she told him. "Just...most of the time."

Matt couldn't resist, pulling her closer to him, giving her a kiss on the side of her face, making her blush even more. In return, she got even warmer. Matt almost couldn't believe his discovery.

"I really turn you on that much?" he asked her playfully. She didn't respond to him at first, being incredibly quiet as she stared down at the water close to her face as the two of them held each other.

"You make me feel special." she told him. Matt moved close to her again, having his hand from underneath the water come up, pushing up on her chin so she could look him in the eye.

"That's because you _are_ special." he told her sweetly. Sissy stared back at him a little emotionally, feeling herself start to tear up a bit. Without warning, she kissed him as the two of them embraced each other in the water up to their necks. They held their kiss for some time, with Maverick, who was watching, feeling a little angry.

"Jeez," he growled under his breath. "this creep is _just_ like dad. Prick."

Maverick checked his watch, seeing that it was nearing ten.

"Shit," he mumbled. "Samantha's getting off the clock soon."

He looked back at the water, seeing that Matt and his friends were the only ones swimming. The young men were still in the pool area, but were back to sitting at the table like they had been previously. Not caring, he climbed down from his chair, quickly making his way for the doors.

"It'll only be a few minutes." he told himself before leaving. As he did so, Shade raised her eyebrow as she watched him rush out the doors.

"I wonder where the life guard is headed."

"Either he's checking the water temperature," Otto told her, still floating on his back. "Or he's checking to see if he still has testicles from all those steroids he's most likely taking."

Otto let out a yawn with Clara climbing up onto his stomach as he floated there.

"I wonder what happened to Jimmy." Otto said aloud. Shade thought about it as she sat on one of the steps that led into the pool, watching Emie swim in the deeper area of the pool.

"You think he's still being interrogated by Gail Company after that stardust incident?" Shade asked him. Clara hopped off of Otto, splashing into the water again.

"I highly doubt it." Otto told him. "I'm half expecting that bastard to burst through those doors and challenge Matt to another match.

"I don't know," Shade told him. "you'd think that guy would give up after everything. Maybe he has and that's why we haven't seen hide nor hair of him lately."

"Maybe." Otto told her. "it's not like it matters. I just hope Matt can win this tournament so we can get out of Pewter city already."

"Hopefully to a place that doesn't rain ever." Shade laughed, crossing her legs in the water with a wishful attitude. "I think I've forgotten what blue skies look like."

"You and me both." Otto said with a smirk. He moved his head up, sinking into the water a little as he did so. He saw Sissy and Matt holding each other. "Let's just hope Matt knows what he's doing in this tournament and we both might get our wish."

Emie was still swimming through the water like a fish, enjoying every second of it. She dove under the water, motioning through the pool with ease before coming back up for air. She did so with a deep inhale. Emie moved a hand over her face, wiping the water out of her eyes. With the water clear from her face, she saw the diving boards, getting an impulsive idea.

During this time the young men, being a total of three of them, were sitting at the table still, talking to each other in swim trucks and bare chested. One was wearing black trunks, another was in purple trunks, and the third was in yellow swim trunks. Each of them had an average build, appearing to be in their early twenties. Maverick hadn't been the only one watching the group.

"Yeah, that's that Matt guy." the one in the black trunks said to everyone, staring at Matt and Sissy on the other side of the pool as they continued to embrace each other.

"Are you talking about that guy who was involved in that stardust incident?" the one in the purple trunks questioned, more or less directed at the guy in the yellow swim trucks, being slightly older than the other two. His friend didn't respond, keeping his eyes on Emie as he had been doing. He had a few beers in his system. Not enough to make his judgment impaired, rather give him balls of steel and make impulsive decisions.

With less than pure thoughts, he watched Emie climb up the ladder that was near their table, who was still wanting to make her way to the diving boards. The guy in the yellow swim trunks showed a toothy grin when she came up from the water with her tan fur dripping water onto the tiles. Emie was minding her business, happily humming a tune as she made her way to the boards.

"Hey, Meowth." he said followed by a whistle. Emie turned her head, showing her pink belled collar that she kept on. "Yeah, you. Come here, would ya?"

Emie felt a little unsure. She didn't like the way this guy was smiling at her. He was creepy to her. The guy's friends started chuckling, knowing where this was going, not caring about repercussion of their actions. Being her submissive self, Emie kindly headed in their direction. She stood before them in her wet bathing suit with her forcing a smile.

"Hi." she said less enthusiastic than usual. The guy in the yellow swim trunks stood up, a little surprised that the collar she was wearing was a talker collar.

"Well now," he said, taking a step closer to her, making Emie feel even more uncomfortable now that he was only a few inches from her. She could smell alcohol on his breath.

_"Hey princess," Mikhail told her as he entered the attic. He had been drinking again with a bottle of scotch still in his hand, now half empty. He took a pull from it with a sloshing noise being made when he threw his arm back down. "Mikhail's a little lonely."_

Emie felt a hand placed on her hip, holding back from letting out a shriek of surprise. They guy in the yellow swim trunks moved his hand between her swim suit, moving his hand onto her bare ass and giving it a hard squeeze.

"Nice ass, babe." he told her as he got even closer. "Wanna get lucky?"

_Mikhail stepped closer to her in the attic with Avie hiding in the corner, watching as Emie stood there trembling in fear, completely naked due to the lack of clothes Mikhail had given her. Mikhail drew close, undoing his pants with one hand with his other hands still gripping the neck of his liquor bottle. His pants hit the floor, revealing he wasn't wearing any underwear._

Emie froze up. All of her training that she had been taught ceased to exist to her at the moment, returning to her state of submission, starting to shake fearfully as the guy in the yellow trunks moved his other hand up onto one of her breasts, also giving it a rough and unpleasant squeeze.

"E-emie doesn't like this..." she told him, using the last of her confidence to tell him this. The guy in the yellow swim trunks found her way of speaking a little funny.

"Speaking in third person, are we?" he mocked. "You might have huge tits and a nice ass, but that doesn't mean you've got any marbles rattling upstairs, does it?"

Emie just shook her head no, telling him what he wanted to hear.

"N-no," she told him as he gave her another pain educing grope. "E-emie isn't s-smart..."

The guy in the yellow trunks started laughing.

"You know what happens to stupid bitches, right?" he asked her. Emie fearfully shook her head as this guy still had his hands all over her. He grabbed her hand, placing it on his crotch to show her that he was hard. "They get fucked like any other dumb bitchs."

There was another bit of laughing, coming from all of the guys now. Sissy's ear twitched as she was still holding onto Matt in the pool, looking up to see what was doing on. Her ears perked up with her eyes growing in shock. Matt soon realized that something was wrong by the look she had on her face. It only took him a second to see what was going on as he turned his head. And to fly into a rage.

The guy in the yellow shorts was too busy to see what was going on in the pool, still with his hands all over Emie, who was now starting to cry silently with her head lowered. It was hard to tell that she was doing so with the water and tear drops mixing as they fell onto the tiles.

"Come on." he whispered in her ear. "Let's go to the bathroom and take care of my little issue."

Emie started to cry even more, being heard sniffle.

"She's not going anywhere!" Matt yelled at the top of his lungs. The guy in the yellow trunks looked to his side, seeing Matt walking towards them after pulling himself up from the pool. "I swear to fucking god, you have five seconds to let go of her or-"

"Or what?" the guy in the yellow trunks snarled back, reaching for Emie's ass again as his friends stood up from their chairs. "You'll beg us to stop like you're retarded Meowth."

"No," Matt told him, refusing to let this go on anymore, storming up to the guy in the yellow shorts with his fist in a ball. "I'll leave you in pools of your own blood!"

Matt punched the guy in the yellow trunks square in the nose, sending him flying backwards, landing hard on his back onto the tile. Quickly grabbing Emie who was still in a state of submissive shock, Matt pulled her away from the proximity of the guys with Sissy running up to them both. Shade, Otto, and Clara had finally gotten out of the water as well, quickly making their way over to see what was going on.

Emie was crying with Sissy hugging her. She sobbed hysterically as Sissy patted her back.

"You're okay." Sissy assured her in a comforting tone. "It's going to be okay Emie."

"What the hell is going on?" Shade asked with Otto holding Clara, seeing Emie crying as if she had been sent into some emotional shock. Matt was standing his ground as the guy in the yellow shorts was helped up to his feet by his friends. He wiped his nose that was bleeding, glaring at Matt angrily.

"You little fuck!" the guy yelled. "Me and my boys are gonna beat your fucking ass!"

Matt cracked his knuckles, followed by his neck.

"You're gonna need more guys if you want this to be a fair fight." Matt told him angrily. "If you hadn't been taking advantage of my Meowth I might have actually felt back about this."

Matt sprinted in the direction of the guys, ducking when the young man in the purple trunks swung his arm at him, showing just how inexperienced he was in a fight. Matt crashed his fist into the guy's face, followed by a swift kick to the shin. The guy in the purple shorts fell, only to be grabbed by the hair with Matt smashing his face into his knee.

He fell on his side with the guy in the black trunks tackling him. Matt hit the tiles with the guy's hands around his throat as he started squeezing with his teeth bared. Not showing even the slightest sigh of fear or struggle, Matt reached up, grabbing the guy by the ear and headbutting him as hard as he could. With all of the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Matt had headbutt the guy so hard that he made him black out, being shoved off of him as Matt got back on his feet.

The guy in the yellow trunks backed up as Matt walked over his unconscious friends. The young man in the yellow trunks put his hands up, backing up into the table they all had been sitting at.

"Hey hey hey!" he said in a panicked laugh. "You're pissed, I get it! Come on, man I was only kidding around! Don't-"

Matt cut him off by grabbing the guys head, slamming it down as hard as he could into the table. With the table being made of a thick glass and having a metal frame, the guys head cracked the table, and possibly his skull. Matt's grip didn't let up.

"If I ever see you again I'll rip your fucking balls out!" Matt screamed at the top of his lungs, making Sissy tense up a little as Emie continued to cry on her.

_"You're not gonna lay a damn hand on her!"_ Sissy remembered Matt yelling at Gavin when he had come to save her when they were still in Viridian city. It was the same tone he was using now. He was so angry he was shaking.

"Do you understand me?!" Matt yelled, bashing the guys face into the table again. Otto had to come up beside him and pull him away.

"He's done, Matt." Otto told him. "It's over. He's not gonna try anything."

He couldn't even if the guy wanted to. The guy was out cold with his upper half laying on the table and his legs limply hanging off it. Matt listened to Emie sobbing, making him even more angry, wanting to smash the guy's head in. Otto grabbed onto his wrist when he saw Matt take a step forward.

"Come on," Otto told him. "any more of a beating he'd be dead. Let's just go back to our suite."

_**After**_ reporting what had happened at the main desk, Sissy, Otto, Clara, Matt, Shade, and Emie when back upstairs. Otto had to be somewhat led by Shade considering he didn't have his glasses with him, holding onto Clara with one hand and having Shade holding his other. Sissy stuck close to Matt who had Emie's arms around him, still crying, now a little less. He could feel her shaking.

They entered the suite with Rachel being the only one awake in the room. She was sitting on the couch watching TV with Aurora sleeping on the couch with a blanket thrown over her along with her coloring book under her arm. Odin was sleeping on Rachel's lap and Bomber was out like a light behind the couch in his sitting position. Laurence was visiting the library for another book, or so he claimed. Doug and Darrell were in their room since Matt and his friends went swimming.

Rachel turned her head, seeing Emie crying. Confused as to what happened, she watched Matt pat her back tenderly, still with Emie's arms around him.

"What the hell happened?" Rachel asked worried.

"Some hormonal dude apparently started feeling her up." Shade told her. "And-"

"Oh shit," Rachel said in a panic, looking over to Matt. "please tell me you didn't kill them, Matt."

Shade and Sissy looked at Matt confused as to how Rachel could have guessed that Matt had nearly killed the guy with Otto letting out a sigh.

"Matt has a tendency to beat the shit out of people who take advantage of woman." Otto explained. "More than the average person probably should. Damn, Rachel, you're lucky it wasn't as bad as the time the three of us went to the movies."

Sissy looked at Matt at a loss.

"What happened when you when to see a movie?" She asked. Matt shook his head, still with Emie holding onto him.

"It's not-"

"You see," Otto interrupted Matt, who was trying to blow off the subject. "When Matt and Rachel were still dating a few years ago, we decided to all go see a movie. A guy 'jokingly' pinched Rachel in the butt, making Matt start wailing on him in front of everyone in the lobby."

"And that was the last time we went to that theater." Rachel commented. "Management literally threw Matt out."

"What's done it done." Matt said, changing the subject. "Let's just get ready for bed."

Matt put his hand on Emie's head, rubbing her ear.

"Come on," he told her. "go ahead and take a shower so you-"

"N-no!" she sobbed, shaking her head. Matt felt her grip onto him harder. He gave a soft tug against her arms, hinting for her to stop.

"Come one, Emie." he told her as kind and understanding as possible. "You need to get that chlorine out of your fur."

"Emie doesn't wanna let go of Matt..." she told him with tears streaming down the fur on her face. Matt let out a sigh.

"Emie," he told her. "you need to take a shower."

"N-no..." Emie said still shaking. "Emie isn't letting go of Matt."

"Why don't you both take one?" Sissy asked. Matt's face got red, looking over at Sissy along with everyone else. She just shrugged, not seeing the big issue.

"It's not like you haven't seen her naked before." Sissy said light hearted. Matt looked at her completely caught off guard, seeing that she was serious.

"Yeah," Matt told her. "when you and I weren't dating. Besides, I know it's gotta make you uncomfortable with the two of us like _this_ naked together in a shower."

Sissy shook her head.

"Not really." she admitted. "You two have always showered together. It sorta became your guy's thing."

"When we weren't _dating_." Matt repeated. Sissy rolled her eyes at him with a laugh.

"Matt," she told him. "it's fine."

He wasn't convinced, looking at her unsure as Emie continued to grapple Matt.

"Are you sure?..." he asked her not completely convinced that it was alright with her. She nodded her head.

"The sooner the better." she told him. "This stupid chlorine is starting to get uncomfortable. You two go ahead and shower first."

Matt looked at her with everyone else not really saying anything about the matter. As uncomfortable as he was with the idea, Matt sighed, looking at Emie.

"Come on," he told her. "Let's take a shower."

_**The**_ two of them entered the bathroom, still with Emie holding onto Matt by his arm. Wanting to get it done and over with, Matt tugged off his swim trunks. He kicked them off of him with Emie still holding onto Matt. He finally convinced her to let go, but she refused to be more than even a few inches away from him. Matt reached around her, undoing her top and taking it off. He avoided staring at her breasts, wanting to remain a gentleman as much as he possibly could.

Emie took off the bottom part of her swim suit, now with the two of them completely bare. Matt walked into the shower with Emie now grabbing his arm again. With a twist of the nob, the shower water turned on, hitting the two of them as they stood there with the shower door closed. Matt wasn't sure how he was willing himself not to get an erection with Emie so close to him without a stitch of clothes, but he forced himself to do so.

Matt started to soap up Emie's back as she let him, still crying a little from what had happened. Tender as possible, Matt washed her body, though refused to touch her anywhere he felt was inappropriate. He admitted to himself that he'd enjoy doing more than just wash Emie, but refused to humor his thoughts. He would never be able to live with himself if he was unfaithful to Sissy.

"Matt?" Emie said very mouse-like. He was washing her hair now, seeing as she was too busy crying to actually wash it herself.

"Yes?"

She grew quiet.

"Emie loves Matt..." she told him. Matt slowed down washing her, looking into her eyes. He gave her a nod of his head.

"I love you too, Emie." he told her. "But-"

"Emie knows." she interrupted, with an understanding nod. "Emie is really happy for Sissy and Matt. Please make sure nobody touches Sissy..."

Emie's wording almost made Matt laugh, but didn't because she was serious.

"Don't worry, Emie." he told her as he continued to wash her. "I won't. And I won't let anybody do that again to you. Ever."

Emie nodded. Matt put his hand on her chin, making her look at him.

"If anyone ever tries to do that to you again, you tell me. Okay?"

Emie nodded her head with a faint smile as her crying finally stopped.

_**Emie**_ had refused to sleep alone. Matt laid there in bed with Emie cuddled up next to him. She wasn't wearing anything with Matt only in his underwear. Sissy had finally gotten out of the shower and had dried off, exiting the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She couldn't help but smile at how adorable Emie was, sleeping soundly with her arms wrapped around Matt's arm. Matt laid there awkwardly with Sissy smirking at him.

"Hey," Matt told her, "if this makes you uncomfortable I'll make her leave."

Sissy laughed at him, taking off the towel and folding it up before setting it on the nightstand closest to her.

"No you won't" she told him. "That poor girl has been through enough today. She just wants to be with the person she loves most in the world."

Sissy, completely naked, got in bed with Matt, now on his other side. She drew close to him and rubbed her head against his chest.

"I guess the two of us have a lot in common." Sissy joked. Matt felt guilty about the entire situation.

"I feel horrible." Matt suddenly admitted. "I should have kept an eye on her. That damn creep, if I would have-"

"Matt," Sissy told him as she moved her head close to his face. "it wasn't your fault. You can't predict the future." She gave him a kiss on the lips, followed by a sweet little laugh when she looked over at Emie and how she was so clung onto Matt. "But you certainly know how to steal a girl's heart."

"I'm a complete jackass for that reason alone..." Matt sighed. Sissy laughed at him.

"No," she corrected him. "you're a nice guy with two woman who love you very much."

She cuddled up next to him like Emie was doing on his other side, closing her eyes. She felt a little warm.

"I didn't do anything with Emie." Matt told her, just to clarify that he didn't do anything wrong. He could hear Sissy laugh lightly before drifting off to sleep.

"That's no way to treat a girl..." Sissy said before falling asleep. Matt looked at her funny, not sure what the hell she meant by that. With the two of them close to Matt, he felt himself getting hard. Now with an erection and two woman by each side of him, he was expected to fall asleep.

Needless to say, it was difficult.


	62. Chapter 62 (Kane and Clara)

_**Chapter 62**_

**(Kane and Clara)**

Completely focused on keeping his hands steady, Kane placed the playing card on top of the others, lightly letting go and moving back away from the card stack carefully. The card tower that he had been working on was coming along nicely, though was certainly taking him a while. It was raining gently outside with the raindrops running down the window pane that was behind his desk. He released a long drawn out sigh with his head in a fog.

The rainfall was the only thing that could be heard. Kane took a few cautiously steps back from the tower of cards he had been working on. His tower stood about three feet tall, yet still had a ways to go before it could be considered completed. With another sigh, he moved to his desk, sitting down in front of a small glass beside a bottle of whiskey.

With a vacant stare, he swiveled in his chair, turning to watch the rain come down outside. Rain, rain, and more rain, it seemed. Nothing but damn rain. It certainly fit the mood. Even so, it didn't help. An internal pain ravished his heart. He wasn't sure if he should be sad or angry. He was so emotionally drained that it didn't matter how he felt.

It was just...bad.

The sound of his office door opening emerged as Clara entered with small steps and her hands close beside her. Kane didn't move, making her wonder if he had heard her. Intentionally closing the office door a little louder than usual, she had hoped that it would get his attention. It practically slammed closed, shaking the floor almost.

Kane didn't even budge.

Clara stood there, feeling even more uncomfortable, which was unusual for her around Kane. Sure, she was naturally awkward around pretty much everyone, but she had always felt close to Kane. Lately, though, he'd been acting strange. He ate little, slept abnormally longer than his typical self, and for the most part hadn't been himself. When he read to her there was something a little off. Frankly, he sounded sad.

Clara suddenly cleared her throat, pausing as the inactivity of Kane made her more and more uneasy. She finally couldn't stand it any longer.

"Mr. Krimson?" she asked him. "Is everything all right?"

There was no response from him as he leaned back in his office chair.

Silence...

Kane leaned forward after some time, standing up from his chair. With his hands now in his pockets, he stood in front of his large window as he watched the rain run down it. His back faced Clara still as he gathered this thoughts. Clara's dark ears pulled back a bit, deciding it was best to leave him alone. She sadly turned around, heading for the office door.

"Clara." Kane spoke with a calm voice. It made her jump a little to hear his voice, quickly turning her head. His back was still facing her as he stood in front of his office window.

"Y-yes?"

Kane grew silent once more, continuing to watch the rain outside.

"I'm sorry." Kane told her.

Clara stared at him, blinking a few times as she wondered why he was apologizing to her.

"Is there anything wrong, sir?" she asked him, feeling a bit bold with herself for asking him after weeks and months of him sulking. "You haven't been yourself lately."

Kane bobbed his head, thinking about the events that had been taking place recently.

"A lot, actually." he admitted.

Clara stood before him, still with his back facing her.

"Can...you tell me what's wrong?"

Letting out large sigh, Kane finally turned around with his hands still in his pockets. With a frown on his face and an unsure gaze, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Assuming you're willing to listen." he told her. "It's a fairly lengthy explanation."

Clara instantly nodded her head.

"Of course!" she told him, wishing she hadn't sounded so excited for him to say what was bringing him down. Kane kept eye contact with her.

"Multiple things are wrong." he explained to her. "I suppose the biggest would have to be that..."

He let out another sigh, shaking his head slowly.

"Notty and I are no longer friends."

Clara was shocked, opening her mouth to say something, but nothing came out at first.

"What?...W-why?..."

Kane walked over to his window again with his back facing her, still with his hands in his pockets.

"I guess because I spoke my mind a little too much." Kane told her. "A few months ago, after she had come over to visit the last time, things began to get a little dark for me. Perhaps it was my fault for starting it, but I expressed my...displeasure about a few things.

"Needless to say, she didn't take what I had to say well at all. One thing led to another, and before I knew it we were fighting again. Even if our friendship was short of being two years old, we had been through a lot. I bought her food when she didn't have any, I bought her medicine when she was sick, and did my best to make sure she was emotionally stable."

Kane stared around at the window with his gut feeling like it was being ripped apart.

"Even with our 'strong' friendship, which I thought was going to last a lifetime, she began to throw things in my face to cut me down. She admitted that she had been sharing personal information as well as saying some things behind my back that were frankly a little surprising. I'd finally had enough, saying something I should have never said."

Kane grew silent once more with Clara watching him stare out the window.

"What was that?" she asked.

Kane opened his mouth, but then closed it. He shook his head.

"In respect for her," he said, "I won't repeat it. Even if we're no longer friends I don't feel it's right to say."

Clara frowned at Kane, watching as he turned around towards his desk, grabbing for his bottle of whiskey. He picked it up, swirling it around a little before setting it back down.

"She asked for her things back, so I respectfully returned them. I think the saddest part was that I apologized, but she didn't hear me before she closed the door."

He set the bottle down with the lost look in his eyes returning. It was like he wasn't fully there.

"After losing literally everyone I've truly come close to," Kane told her. "they've either betrayed or abandoned me. Family, friends, it doesn't matter, really. It's a cycle that's repeated itself for as long as I can remember."

He slowly began to pace behind his desk as Clara watched silently.

"My entire life has been based around loneliness, abuse, and depression. It's almost unbearable to wake up every morning knowing that you're alone, even when you've done your best to reach out to those around you- those you _think_ will be there for you until the end of time itself. To lie to yourself saying that things will get better is almost as painful as watching them get worse."

Kane blinked, soon after shaking his head.

"Listen to me babble on like a fool." he said with a half laugh. "I must sound like an idiot."

Clara idly stood there with her hands together, holding back from having her eyes swell with tears. The mixture of hearing Kane tell her he was miserable and being told in a round about way that she wasn't considered 'close' to him hurt her heart beyond words.

"...I'm sorry." she told him with her head lowered.

"It's quite alright." he told her, pretending it didn't bother him as much as it really did. "I've come to accept that I'm not worth being loved or cared about on a deeper level."

Kane reached for the first drawer of his desk, gabbing something inside. Clara watched as he pulled out an ashtray, followed by a small pack of cigars. Pulling out the tiny box of matches in his pocket, Kane unwrapped one of them, holding it between two fingers.

"I also accept the fact that I'm on a slow march to my own self destruction." he spoke with the cigar between his lips bobbing. Kane flicked a match across the side of the small match box in his possession, lighting the cigar. He took a small drag of it as he sat down in his office chair again, leaving the drawer open.

"Please forgive me, Clara." he told her. " but I don't think I'm in any shape to read to you right now."

She simply nodded her head, turning away from Kane in the hopes that he wouldn't see her start to cry. He indeed did, feeling more of an ass than he already did as she exited his office, shutting the door behind her.

"Way to fucking go..." he mumbled to himself upset. Kane grabbed some paper from his desk as well as a pen, slapping it down in front of him. He took another drag from his cigar before he began writing.

_Dear readers,_

_ It's been a rough few months. I've lost my best friend, been working at a job from hell, and have been fighting chronic depression. The list of issues I currently have on my burdened soul is far to troublesome to list, and frankly, is not worth your time to bother with. You wish to read Flame of Life, not listen to me whine and sob about my personal problems. Unfortunately, all I have to give right now is a shitty explanation as to why I don't have another chapter up as of now._

_ Due to my depression, I feel as if I've been robbed of my talents. My jokes fall flat, my intelligence has been dulled, and my writing ability has been difficult to conjure. I awake each morning in both physical and emotional pain and go to sleep in the same condition._

_ Not only have I been in a dark place, but I've picked up a few habits that I'm not necessarily proud of. I've been drinking more than usual and have turned to smoking the occasional cigar for comfort seeing as I have literally nothing else that partially brings me at ease._

_ My pathetic explanation I suppose continues with telling you all that you're lucky that there even still IS someone to write Flame of Life in the first place. I had a bit of an episode with myself trying to walk out in front of a train not to long ago. The only thing that stopped me was my fright for loud noises, literally tripping from the sound of the blaring train horn._

_ I'm not asking for sympathy nor am I trying to make my life sound any worse than anyone else. I simply wish to tell you that I AM still writing Flame of Life and why the updates have been so spaced apart like they have been. It's a bit ironic that the person who insisted on me starting this is no longer a part of my life. The next chapter is on it's way, I promise. Let me be clear when I say that nothing will stop me from finishing what I started._

_ I thank you all for your immense support, helping me take this story father than I thought it would ever go. There is still much, MUCH more to write, only having scratched the surface of what's to come. Forgive me for the reservation of updates. I am planning on getting back on the saddle soon of constant updating, most likely with at least one chapter per week, perhaps two if I can squeeze in the time. Expect another chapter soon._

_ With that said, I've read all of your reviews and letters. I apologize if I haven't been able to respond, but they mean a lot to me. It makes my day to find that someone has sent me something, keeping my inner darkness at bay, even for a moment._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Krimson Kane_

Kane finished the letter, leaving it on the desk as he ashed his cigar. He spun in his chair, staring outside as the down pouring rain.

He yearned for sunny days once again.


End file.
